
Class rBEi^sa. 

Book Wfc2. 

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COHflUGIJT DEMSIC 



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MEANDERINGS 

IN THE REALMS OF 

BLISS AND WOE. 



THOUGHTS 
THAT WILL GROW. 



An Apocalyptic Presentation 
of Truth. 




J. Ai,kx. Wilson. 



VERITAS EXHUMARE. 



nyuartderings in the 
I^ealnas of Bliss and r \ATee. 



J.° ALEX. WILSON, 
if 

Editor and Publisher of the Almagest. 



"The invisible things of Him from the creation of 
the world are clearly seen, being understood by the 
things that are made."— Rom. i : 12. 



Atlanta, Ga. 
Printed for the author. 



a ^ 



931 



Entered accoidingto Act of Congress, 

in the year 189% 

b y J- AI^X. WILSON, 

in the office of the librarian of Congress, 

at Washington, D. C. 

AJJ rights reserved. 

3681 




TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 



TO 

My Beloved Wife, 

Whose lovely character and life have ever 

encouraged me to seek all that is 

pure and good, 

This Little Volume is 

Dedicated. 



1? 



INTRODUCTORY. 

"What is is good; ergo, change is evil." 
This most vicious syllogism is responsible for 
most of the error in the minds of men to-day, 
leading to deductions being drawn from prem- 
ises that of themselves are untrue ; and it will 
prove the chief obstacle to a fair consideration 
of the themes of this book and an appreciation 
of the mode of treatment by the author. 

As in the political world there are those that 
by an intense conservatism seek to perpetuate 
faulty systems of government for fear of in- 
itiating a system more faulty, and others who 
are ever ready to demolish those existing in a 
hope of instituting one more perfect or having 
none at all ; so there are those in the religious 
world who can not see above the walls reared 
by the priests of their respective faiths, and 
fear to climb to the top and look over lest they 
behold unlawful things, and other lawless ones 
who regard not God or man and want no creed 
at all. 

To those who reason in the manner indicated 
at the beginning of this article the author has 
nothing to say, and the writer of this introduc- 
tion has nothing to say. Indeed, there is 
nothing that can be said. Those over-timid 
ones mentioned in the next, however, the 
writer would encourage to see for themselves 



in this presentation a just and holy God, om- 
niscient and omnipotent ; an immaculate and 
divine Saviour, a sacrifice for sin from the 
foundation of the world; a comforting and 
guiding Holy Spirit ; and a system of perfect 
law to effect the divine will. To those over 
bold and lawless the author has given solemn 
warning full enough. 

There is still, however, another word to be 
said. It is a fashion nowadays to brand all 
utterances or writings on religious subjects 
that are not orthodox, or are radical in any 
way, as atheistical. This book is not that; it 
is a rational account of the truths of Chris- 
tianity — of God's purposes, and the manner in 
which they are effected. It is not even new, 
but, as the title, "Veritas Exhumare," indi- 
cates, is a bringing to view of old truths long 
buried under the crumbling ruins of decaying 
ecclesiastical systems and those fallen long 
since. A. A. Wilson. 



PREFACE. 

Without setting up any claim to erudition, 
or offering any apology to the masters in 
theology, this little volume is sent forth as 
bearing its author's convictions, and as pre- 
senting a rational and consistent view of 
God's purposes concerning the human race, 
the laws and conditions affecting them, and 
the manner in which these purposes are 

effected. 

The Author. 



IMPLORATION. 

God, since a state of being has been upon 
me thrust, and a destiny incurred of which 
I know not, deign to cast a ray of light upon 
my path. 

In a world with conditions I can not under- 
stand nor control, my lot has fallen ; where 
thought conflicts with thought, and confu- 
sions hedge me about ; from this sad plight, 
Lord, lead me to light and truth. 

Those who essay to recite the way of life, 
against each other declaim, and point to di- 
vergent paths, which increase the doubts 
and fears that bewilder and cause my soul to 
stand still and pray. In mercy, Lord, 
lead me from this darkness into light. 



INDEX. 

Page. 

Appearance of the earth and earthly con- 
ditions from a spiritual standpoint, . 1 
Evil spirits — how they influence people, 2, 3 
The spiritual sphere — the first heaven, . 5 
Restraints on fallen angels, ... 6 
Guardian angels — how they protect, . 6, 7 
How demons destroy, .... 8 
Means of traversing space, ... 9 
Fallen angels — their character, habits, mo- 
tives, etc., and how governed, . 9 to 16 
An instance of the exertion of demoniacal 

power and of rescue, ... 16, 17 
• How miseries and destruction are wrought, 18 
A purpose fraught with danger to the hu- 
man race — the consummation sought, 
materializations and their success, 19 to 26 
Downward plunge of wicked spirits, 26, 27 
Religion of Christ a religion of doing, not 

of believing, 27 

False idea of hell — the old orthodox hell, 

as used for frightening purposes, . . 28 

Christ as a Saviour, . . . . 28, 29 

Instruction by angel — general lesson, 29 to 33 

Doom of demons or fallen angels, . 33 

Heaven — erroneous ideas of heaven, 

spirit bodies are empyreal, etc., 34 to 39 

Final destiny of the earth — sublimation, 39 

Surprised by a demon, and a rescue, . 40 

A fearful impression — the nature of sin, 41 



Page. 

Markevian's explanations — 
About Christ — his divine nature, . . 41 
The abode of the Most High, . . 44 

A great event of the future, . . 46 

Angels — their origin, .... 47 
Amphyamia, the planet upon which 
Markevian came into life — a descrip- 
tion of it at its middle age, . 49, 50 
The planet's decline and final change to 

a spiritual sphere; the sublimation, 50 to 53 
Origin of evil — the revolt in heaven, 53 to 58 

Arrival of a group of missioners, . . 58 

Simiel's remarks concerning a war on the 
planet Euphatau, ..... 59 

Raguel's reference to the earth ; points to 
a fearful time, and compares it to the 
planet Ottopo ; alludes to property in 
in land and the rent-tax, . . 60 to 62 

Escape of the Rabicheon from the atmos- 
phere of the planet Paleon, . . 62 to 63 

Markevian's explanations continued — 
How angels are directed, ... 64 
Fallen rebels infesting other planets, 65 to 70 
The resurrection— erroneous ideas, 71 to 73 
Day of judgment, . ♦ . . 73 to 77 

The coming of Yalarius — explanations, . 77 
First heaven — sixty miles above, 81 to 84 
How extinguishment of life comes to 

wicked spirits 84, 85 

First, second and third heavens, . 85 to 89 



Page. 

Coming of Mahofta — many explanations — 
Inspiration of the Bible, . . 91 to 112 
Salvation by faith — false doctrine, 122 to 128 
Election — what it means, . 128 to 130 

Beautiful spirit ascending to heaven, 115 to 118 

Long-distance view of spirit's home in 
earth-life, 118, 119 

Guardian, with infant spirit, . . . 120 

Long-distance view of baby spirit's home 
and sorrowing mother, . . . 121 

Glorified mother descending to meet her 
child — meeting midway between earth 
and the spiritual sphere, . . 121 to 122 

Prophecy — two classes, . . . 130 to 133 

Keturn of Yalarius — his instrutions, 133 to 135 

Commencement of descent — appearance of 
earthly people when seen by spiritual 
sight, . 136 to 13S 

Descent to first subterranean plane — the 
abode of those who lived on the fat of 
the land in earth-life, . . , 138 to 140 

Descent to second plane, or the confines 
of murderers and those guilty of vio- 
lent deeds, 140 to 142 

Descent to the "Vale of Snares and Decep- 
tions," the prison of those who worked 
covertly to injure, and ruined under 
friendly guises— among pits and flow- 
ers—a dreadful place, . . . 142 to 150 

Descent to the "Kealm of Horrors," a 



XVI 

Page, 
retributive region lying at a great depth, 
wherein are confined all those guilty of 
great cruelties ; torturers who used de- 
vices to prolong life that awful excrucia- 
tions might be inflicted, . . 150 to 153 
Coming of Mahofta and flight to spiritual 

sphere, 154 

Land of Rest — happy spirits, flowers and 
flowering trees, rivers, undulating plains 
and beautiful vistas, . . . 155 to 157 
Spirit robes and slippers, and how they 

grow, 158 

Mahofta explains the anatomy of spirit 
bodies ; also the nature and peculiarities 
of spiritual plant-life, . . . 158, 159 
Heavenly rain-shower, . 161 

"Vale of Echoes," spirits worshiping, 162, 163 
How Christ is often met, . . . 165 

Ascent to the airy abodes miles above the 

heavenly surface, 166 

Dainty little pavilions poised upon floating 

incrassations of spiritual atmosphere, 166 
No hewers of wood or drawers of water, 166 
No " rent-taker " in the land of rest, 167 

The wicked not punished by devils, 168 to 170 
Homes of fallen angels, description, 171 to 174 
The rebel contention, . . . 174 to 175 
Mahofta's promise, .... 176 



AN APOCALYPSE. 

It so happened to the writer that after much 
pondering and many prayers for enlightenment 
of mind concerning spiritual conditions and 
the destiny of human souls, that a kind of 
waking dream was permitted in which earthly 
and spiritual conditions were blended, and by 
means of which many things not before under- 
stood, and much that was obscure came to 
stand out in a clear light. 

In this dream-condition the earth, from the 
standpoint permitted, appeared dark ; a gloomy 
land of miasmatic conditions, wherein conflict 
and disorder seemed permanently to abide ; 
a partially obscuring haze was everywhere, but 
certain areas were overhung by great black 
shadows. There seemed no provision for rest — 
nowhere was conveyed the idea of stillness or 
quietude, on the contrary, everywhere w T as life 
evinced by motion and great activity. Unrest 
and excitement seemed to prevail, and com- 
motions more or less violent were common. 
Men, women, and children were to be seen go- 
ing to and fro, engaged in the affairs incident 
to and inseparable from physical life, mostly 
intent upon securing a sufficiency to maintain 
life, and over this there was a great deal of 
contention and strife. 

1 



While contemplating the exceedingly gloomy 
aspect the earth presented, it became apparent 
that there were features present that I had not 
seen before in a normal state ; and chief 
among things strange and unnatural to the 
earth, as things had formerly appeared to me, 
was the dark-visaged beings that in great 
swarms, countless in numbers, mingled and 
intermingled with earth's people. Taking a 
near view of some of these, I perceived that 
there was something in common — though much 
that was dissimilar — in their general appear- 
ance and that of earth's people. While many 
of the terrestrial dwellers seemed joyous and 
happy, these had a shade, a concept of evil, 
dim, yet pervading their features, insinuant of 
deep hatred under a harmless guise ; impla- 
cable malignity under a fair exterior counte- 
nance. Most of them were fair to look upon 
until one caught a direct look from their eye3, 
which shone with a piercing, baleful light, that 
made one feel the need of defense, and to de- 
sire some sure and adequate protection in such 
presence. Man}' were in attitudes of waiting 
and watching, some moving about as if in 
a contemplative mood, and again with quick 
and excited pace, still others were darting 
hither and thither with the quickness of 
thought. These latter wore expressions of 
countenance most sinister and forbidding, 



seeming to have some vengeful feeling to grat- 
ify or malicious purpose to achieve. 

It was perceived, on nearer approach, that 
while all human beings were confined to the 
earth's surface, the other class could disappear 
beneath at will, and, apparently in defiance of 
gravitation, could rise to a considerable alti- 
tude above the earth, but did not seem able to 
maintain their poise for much length of time, 
but would quickly descend to the surface or 
beneath it. But notwithstanding their vast 
numbers, their activity, and the powerful in- 
fluence they seemed to exert in the affairs of 
men, earth's people seemed entirely oblivi- 
ous of their presence and power. 

My eyes becoming somewhat accustomed to 
the peculiar light resting upon everything, a 
stranger sight appeared. Innumerable atten- 
uated black lines could be seen extending, with 
many windings and curvatures from these 
sinister beings to the mortal creatures of earth. 
At times these lines would remain steady, or 
with slight undulations coil around the indi- 
vidual as if serving the purpose of a binding, 
or for the control of environment ; then they 
would come from below the earth's surface 
with the speed of a rifle-ball, describing angles 
much like a lightning flash in all save the 
light, and vanish immediately after reaching 
the person for whom intended. Following 



their approach and contact every conceivable 
form of vice was seen to manifest itself among 
th.3 people — violence, cruelties, murders, and 
all manner of abominable practices forbidden 
of God and contemned in the eyes of the pure 
and good. It was evident that by this means 
malign promptings were conveyed to, and evil 
impulses wrought in the minds of the people 
coming under their influence. 

I now began to understand the import of all 
this, and soon perceived that the myriads of 
evil beings I had been observing were none 
other than the hosts of Satan, the fallen an- 
gels, that in all manner of ways were striving 
to destroy both the bodies and souls of earth's 
people. 

Imponderable by nature, and in character 
of form empyreal, the bodies of these demons 
were invisible to human beings in the flesh, 
and realizing this, and the dreadful disadvan- 
tage it entailed, brought over me a feeling of 
utter despair for the poor helpless creatures of 
the earth. At this point I heard a voice : 
''Look up." For up to this time my attention 
had been given only to scenes and things 
under the haze and heavy shadows of earth. 
Turning in the direction whence the voice, I 
beheld a radiant being in raiment of dazzling 
whiteness, who said: " Your fears are not 
well founded. Against the hosts of the Evil 



One which appear to you to dominate every- 
where stands infinite wisdom and omnipotent 
power. Look up." And so saying, swiftly 
ascended to the realms of light. 

On looking upward, some power acting upon 
my perceptive faculties, I saw a great sphere 
of light, apparently having the earth for its 
center; its brightness beginning where the 
haze and shadows enveloping the earth ended. 
It ai^peared to have a surface, undulating and 
variable as to conformation, upon which an 
innumerable throng of happy beings were 
having habitation. It appeared as light — was 
clearly translucent with transparency enough 
for objects to be discerned upon its uppermost 
surfr.ee, but had a density in adaptation to the 
imponderable bodies of the beings resident 
thereupon. 

While contemplating with astonishment this 
new phase of life an explanation came — 
whence I know not, but it became clear to my 
mind that all things physical have a counter- 
part in things spiritual. The gospel teaching 
that human beings have spiritual bodies which 
evolve from or unfold out of their physical 
bodies, it was an easy conception that this 
sphere was the counterpart or spiritual body 
of the earth. And so many other things not 
seen before came to view, and explanations 
came concerning things hard to be understood. 



6 

It now appeared how a restraining force is 
brought to bear upon and frustrate the evil 
purposes and designs of the countless hordes 
of demons infesting the air and the earth, for 
there could be seen in the higher stratas of the 
air, immediately underlying the spiritual 
sphere, millions of angels. These were dis- 
posed, with the utmost precision as to detail, 
in ranks above ranks and groups after groups, 
so as to oppose an effectual barrier and con- 
fine to the evil powers below. Beside these 
there were angels everywhere between the 
spiritual sphere and the physical earth, mov- 
ing mostly a little above the area so thronged 
by demons; these had charges as guardians, 
the assignments being, among other things, to 
shield and protect those human beings com- 
mitted to their care from the destructive power 
of the demons, when directed against them 
individually ; and from them, extending in 
every direction to particular individuals of 
earth's people, were what seemed to be atten- 
uated rays of light, resembling in all respects, 
save in blackness, the lines heretofore de- 
scribed as eminating from and subserving the 
purposes of the evil ones. These I came to 
understand were magnetic cords connecting 
guardians with their w T ards, along which are 
transmitted helpful and necessary promptings, 
impressions and warnings, which register 



themselves in the chambers of the inner con- 
sciousness of individuals. These are projected 
at any time and from any distance, and with- 
drawn according to the wise and beneficent 
purposes of these holy beings. Especially was 
recourse had to this means in moments of 
peril, whether the danger was of a physical or 
spiritual nature. But notwithstanding the as- 
signment of holy angels to the guardianship of 
human beings who have been given spiritual 
life, I observed that in some cases demons, 
working through the power of physical 
agencies, were permitted to destroy in various 
ways the physical bodies of those under their 
care, but when death ensued, their spirits 
were sustained in the emergence from their 
bodies, aDd when, through the inherent vitality 
imparted with the gift of spiritual life and the 
aid extended by attending angels, they by ag- 
gregation from the empyreal elements around 
them became clothed with spiritual bodies, 
they were tenderly convoyed to the spiritual 
sphere of the earth, and some of them to alti- 
tudes immeasurably be\ond this sphere — into 
the higher celestial realms. There is much in 
the conditions surrounding a spirit emerging 
from the earthly body that is in close analogy 
with infancy in initial life; the spirit may not, 
in the first few moments, know of or how to use 
the natural powers belonging to that state, and 



8 

this deficiency or denpendency is always com- 
pensated for by guardian angels and those they 
may caii to L/iCxi ai^. 

Here my thoughts reverted for a moment to 
past scenes in earth life — the awful deaths of 
many of the early adherents of Christianity 
came to mind, and it seemed inexplicable that 
angels, having ample wisdom and power, and 
charged with the safety of individual human 
beings, should fail at any time to protect their 
physical bodies. Concerning this, as in all 
other things, an explanation came. It was 
that li Demons can not destroy human life by 
demoniacal power exerted of themselves, but 
must have recourse to physical agencies ; and 
omnipotent power is never used as an absolute 
force to prevent accountable beings from com- 
mitting sin. Attacks are made through human 
and animal agencies ; the inanimate is also 
used whevever forces are at hand which can 
be controlled and made available for injury or 
destruction — all instigated and brought about 
by the power and influence of these evil beings. 
These at times are frustrated or circumvented, 
at other times a means of escape is provided, 
but absolute force is never used torestfain from 
sin or wrong doing. God rules by law — silent, 
inexorable law. There is no violent process 
in all the universe except that which is super- 
induced by Satanic power or influence. " 



9 

The angelic ministrations hereinbefore men- 
tioned I perceived were rarely recognized as 
such by the favored beings whose welfare they 
were intended to effectuate. Sadden thoughts 
or impressions, precautionary or monitoiy in 
character, were generally attributed to the 
intellectual attributes — acute perceptive facul- 
ties, or some mental trait peculiar to the indi- 
vidual — and, so understood, gave rise to a spe- 
cies of pride based on the idea of possessing 
much or superior wisdom. 

A prompting came to move a little from my 
point of observation, and so doing I found my- 
self in an invisible current which carried me 
swiftly across great areas of the earth, and 
found that by moving conversely out of one 
current another would be entered, and in this 
way traverse could be made in any desired di- 
rection. Scenes were much the same every- 
where as at first point of observation, except 
at some places where very dark shadows in- 
tervened between the earth and the spiritual 
sphere. These were discerned to be places of 
great wickedness, where the fruits of sin were 
being reaped, and the wages being paid, which 
is death. Here demons were so numerous as 
to intensify the dismal blackness hovering 
over the scenes. • 

It now occurred to me to carefully consider 
the character, habits, motives, and purposes 



10 

of these myriads of fallen angels, and at the 
very outset discovered that much of their evil 
work was done by compulsion ; that fear, 
caused by awful cruelties inflicted as punish- 
ment for disobedience to orders, was the power 
that drove the evil work forward. The Prince 
of the powers of the air rules with an iron 
hand all below him, and his judgments are 
dire on all delinquents in infernal duties. 
There is not a spark of affection in all their 
ranks, though they are adepts in feigning such 
when it subserves their purposes. Their 
hearts are adamantine to all appeals for mercy. 
They hate each other, hate all above and be- 
low them, and have an intense hatred to every 
human being; the latter, how T ever, is some- 
what peculiar, in that it is analogous to that 
hatred which in earth life springs up between 
rivals. They understand that the earth and its 
process of generating life was created and the 
incarnation of Christ perfected for the purpose 
of furnishing the realms of heaven with higher 
orders of pure beings to nil the places made 
vacant by their fall. The ways and means to 
defeat this divine purpose v furnishes the only 
subject-matter in all the infernal regions in 
which there is unitv of purpose. 

Satan is a skillful tactician and strategist, is 
not lacking in the elements of greatness save 
in truthfulness and power, and his qualities 



11 

are imparted and taught to all his myrmidon 
leaders proportionately down to the lowest 
subalterns. There are great hosts of these 
rulers, and they constitute the aristocracy of 
the Hadesian commonwealth; and, as far as 
I could learn, there is a very close analogy be- 
tween this controlling element and the mlers 
of the earth — so close indeed that the con- 
clusion might easily be reached that Satan 
had originally furnished the model and men 
bad diligently copied it. In this iniquitous 
kingdom there is a pompous show of law and 
of penalties for the infraction thereof, but 
never a thought of justice. The caste system 
of control is rigid here. The patricians sit in 
the great council over which the arch-autocrat 
presides. Below are grade after grade down 
to conditions most abject. These divisions are 
entirely arbitrary, there being little or no per- 
ceptible difference in them so far as intellect 
goes or capacity for wickedness. Some inhab- 
iting the lowest cells, often below the earth's 
surface, once sat with marked prominence in 
the highest Luciferean circle, and may be there 
again if it ever suits the whim of his Grim 
Highness to promote them. One feature that 
is peculiar is, that each grade must reside, or 
have their habitations arranged so that they 
are lower than the grade above, and this grad- 
uation must be downward from the plane on 



12 

which Satan chooses to move. This rule, pre- 
sumably disciplinary in its purpose, causes 
those of the lower castes to dwell down in the 
earth at times ; rising from their cavernous 
homes only as orders call them forth to be as- 
signed to duty. 

Satan's abiding-place in the main is the great 
Tartarean Temple, or chamber of infernal cog- 
itations, a gigantic combination of pavilions 
with spires, cupolas, pennants and other cap- 
ital insignia, and from them at times flash great 
glares of red light. Over and around them all 
hovers continually a most dismal blackness, 
while great banks of sombre vapor move about 
in constant, slow, mazy whirls. 

In these dread council chambers, the birth- 
place of witchery, sorcery and every abomi- 
nable feature of occultism, meet the nobilit}' — 
the peers of the realm — and with them assem- 
ble a host of nabobs and satellites that minis- 
ter to the wants and caprices of the arch-ruler. 
These latter are the instruments of oppression, 
the bosses, the brutal scourgers, the refined 
torturers. In this prime seat of iniquity are 
concocted the diabolic schemes which are pro- 
mulgated downward. 

This Stygian Tabernacle is not a fixture in 
the sense of place, but is moved — floated along 
spiritual or magnetic currents to any point 
desired within the rebel confines, and then 



13 

anchored as it were. These transitions are 
achieved presumably by some form of chemical 
action reaching the molecules of etherial mat- 
ter through the laws governing in rarefaction 
and condensation. All the abodes of these 
fallen angels are movable in same manner. 

The arch dictator often centers his headquar- 
ters over national capitals at times when great 
matters are being considered by earth's rulers, 
and makes pendent from it thousands of trans- 
mission lines, and rills the chambers of legis- 
lation with his emissaries; descending himself 
into their midst when the subject-matter is of 
sufficient gravity. In such cases he will call 
into action all his staff of notables together with 
thousands of coadjutors and many millions of 
his common subjects, and have them disposed 
over a whole nation as watchers, prompters, 
directors and guides ; will search for and bring 
forward, if possible, persons and papers, if 
favorable to his cause, or obstruct them if not, 
even to the wrecking of railroad trains, caus- 
ing disasters at sea, or destructive conflagra- 
tions ; will insulate, if he can, a whole legis- 
lative assembly or other important body of 
ruling people, and sever from them, if possible, 
every influence and impulse save his own. 

There is a dreadful earnestness that charac- 
terizes the efforts of these rebel angels, and 
their activity is astonishing, and it is all for 



14 

the sole purpose of causing disaster and ruin 
in some foim or other. 

A constant sense of oppression and fear is 
experienced by every one from the highest 
rank to the lowest, for Satan has no favorites 
whom he will not thrust from a seat in the 
great Tartarean council to a cell in the lowest 
caste for the slightest opposition to his will. 
More than this, he will order horrible punish- 
ments inflicted if it meets the caprice of the 
moment. He has inventors in his realm whose 
duties are to devise novelties in cruelty and 
elegancies in excruciation. The bric-a-brac 
of these infernal artisans may be ordered into 
use upon the slightest provocation, or for no 
cause at all, except to try new curios of tor- 
ment, if the arch-fiend so wills. 

The proletariat — the mud-sills, as it were — of 
this demoniau empire are a debased and 
crushed mass of sentient beings. Their bodies 
are indestructible by violent assault or else 
Satan would now- be alone. Only the wear of 
ages impairs them permanently and ultimately 
destroys them. The head cloven asunder to 
the chin by a blow will in a few moments co- 
alesce, and so with any wound or fracture of 
limb; the force of a blow that flays or cuts 
seems to cause the vital elixir to flow from the 
injured part, so that there is no loss of this 
fluid, and no anaemic condition as a sequence, 



15 

as would be the case with a physical body after 
the loss of blood, and with the return flow 
comes healing to the wound, but a victim to 
such treatment writhes in pain for the time as 
excruciating as one would suffer in a physical 
body. In fact, a spirit can suffer more acutely 
in a spiritual body than in a physical one. To 
the condemned spirit there is no assuagement; 
no partial paralysis of nerve-centers tending to 
obtund the poignancy of suffering. 

Tortures horrible to relate are inflicted upon 
these down-trodden castes in Satan's kingdom, 
and they in turn show no mercy when the power 
to punish is gained, therefore unspeakable 
atrocities lie to their charge also. 

They are capable of exciting commiseration 
in the human breast but for the fact that there 
is not a spark of benevolence in all the ranks. 
Impulse now only moves them to malicious 
deeds, the divine attribute of love which once 
inhabited their bosoms having been supplanted 
by implacable hatred. These beings are herded 
and hurled where and whither the arch-dicta- 
tor of this realm of ruin may direct, the most 
abject of slaves to the controlling powers over 
them; and yet, in this condition of servitude, 
they hold in complete captivity tens of mil- 
lions of earth's people. The words of the gos- 
pel, "led captive by Satan," are verified in 
millions of cases, the victims becoming com- 
pletely subdued and rendered tractable, pliant, 



16 

and subservient to their every wish ; and while 
in this condition their mental and physical 
faculties and powers are often used for atio- 
cious and abominable purposes, Being en- 
tirely and hopelessly obsessed, they are not 
at the time conscious of the enormity of their 
deeds, being culpable mainly in having given 
ear at first to the sinful promptings of these 
invisible yet ever present and watchful agencies 
of the evil world working in opposition to God 
and for the ruin of the human race. To ac- 
complish these purposes all the evil institu- 
tions and abominations existent in the world 
are of their devisement, the means to sustain 
them and the victims being alike furnished by 
their agency ; they are abroad in all the earth 
leading and luring people to commit wrongful 
and unrighteous acts and into places of danger. 
An instance of the exercise of this latter evil 
power has just been witnessed. The victim, 
a man, was striving with all of his strength 
to resist a dominating, sinful habit; his plan 
of resistance being mainly to stay away from 
the places where such practices were indulged. 
This he was trying to do in good faith, but he 
was having recourse to nothing save his own 
individual strength of will, and thus equipped 
he was not able to cope with the malign power 
and influence at the time centered upon him ; 
for divine help he had not prayed. At the time 



17 

of observation be was moving reluctantly to 
the very place which he had been trying to 
avoid, and around him were a host of demons 
whose black impression lines were so thickly 
plied, intertwined and lapped about him as to 
partly obscure his form to spiritual sight. 
When just at the entrance he hesitated in his 
gait, and from an imploring upward look, ap- 
peared to say: "0 God, deliver me from this 
terrible power. " As quick as thought — as a 
lightning flash —through the dark overhang- 
ing shadows an angel descended to within a 
few hundred feet above where the victim 
paused, and, in an instant, the saving line of 
light reached the man and coiled about him, 
making the spot luminous for the moment, the 
demons were stricken as if by fright, or as if 
shocked by an electric bolt of powerful volt- 
age, their impression lines vanished, they 
themselves dispersed, sinking as they went, 
and in a second not one could be seen. Some- 
what remote from the spot a few heads rose to 
the neck above the earth's surface as their vic- 
tim turned with a peaceful smile on his face and 
left the place. The observer could not deter- 
mine whether the man realized and understood 
the source of deliverance or attributed it to his 
own firmness or will power. A ver3' great ig- 
norance prevails in the minds of earthly people 
concerning angelic ministrations, asw T ell as the 



18 

extent to which promptings to wickedness 
come to them from Satan's emissaries, and of 
how their minds are made foul by evil thoughts 
from the same source. 

By means of the occult knowledge and pow. 
er known and exerted by order of the supreme 
council of the Absddonian domain the quanti- 
tative proportions of the constituents of the 
atmosphere are tampered with and elemental 
disturbances wrought — as storms, cyclones, 
and droughts — which bring destruction upon 
great sections. By like means conditions are 
furnished favorable to a dangerous exuberance 
in insect life and the prevalence of plant dis- 
ease, that the sustenance supply may be dimin- 
ished or cut off, and distress come to people for 
want of food, or that actual famine may ensue. 
The instinct of fear in animals is wrought upon, 
producing fright, that destruction to life may 
result from the running away of domestic ani- 
mals and collisions incident thereto. Likewise 
recourse is had to the ferocious nature of some 
animals, exciting their vicious propensities 
and causing attacks. All these manifestations 
of evil import and many others not enumer- 
ated, are everywhere before the people, yet 
they are almost universally ascribed to God — 
as his mysterious providences. Many, indeed, 
deed are not willing to admit the bare existence 
of these Satanic agencies, much less to accredit 



19 

them with the authorship of these common 
occurrences which are so detrimental to the 
life and interests of the human race. 

Some few, however, have a personal kno pl- 
edge of these invisible beings through certain 
manifestations in the way of communications, 
but are greatly deluded, in that they believe 
the messages are from the spirits of deceased 
relations and friends. 

At this point in my study of the character, 
habits, and government of the fallen angels, 
a deep, dangerous purpose, formulated at the 
very fountain-head of infernal wisdom, became 
apparent to me. The details for its execution 
are of comparatively recent devisement, and 
are now being gradually disseminated in the 
lower ranks. It is most momentous in its char- 
acter because of its matchless quality as a de- 
ceptive device; appealing to the credulity of 
the unthinking masses. The allusion here is 
to materializations, now constituting the high- 
est class of phenomena as appreciated by spir- 
itualists. The deep underlying purpose here 
in thought is more than that of rendering a 
spiritual body perceptible to the sense of sight 
by the physical or natural eye. This latter is 
along the line and of the texture of most of 
Satan's inventions contrived and practiced with 
the object in view of deceiving and gaining the 
confidence of the common masses of earthly 
people. 



20 

By having recourse to little known or wholly 
undefined chemical affinities, possibly known 
in finite limits to occultism only, the more 
crude particles or atoms of empyreal matter 
are filtered out, and by some alchemy or devil- 
ish process of occult science, combined with 
or made adhesive to the more refined atoms or 
molecules of physical matter, and this illicit 
compound is rendered accretive to the spirit 
form in a superficial manner, thus attaining a 
density sufficient to reflect light to a greater 
or less degree. Resultant from this diablery 
comes into existence that infernal veneer 
called materialization. Over the features of a 
spirit, or demon, thus materialized, is cast or 
reflected the former appearance or likeness of 
some departed friend or relation, most always 
detected in the mind of some anxious one pres- 
ent; and on this detection and reflection great- 
ly depends the success of the necromantic art. 

This device, used for purposes of deception, 
has been attended with remarkable success for 
the short while it has been practiced in these 
latter days. There are numerous instances 
where the materializing was wrought with 
such care and consummate skill as to defy de- 
tection of any fraud as to the person repre- 
sented to appear in this way. Not alone the 
distinctive features have been shown, but even 
the modulations of voice and peculiarities of 
speech are imitated with great nicety. 



21 

The laboratorial appointments in the caverns 
below have been arranged with such precision, 
and the manipulations in chemistry and psy- 
chology so skilfully conducted, that largely 
attended seances for materializing phenomena 
have passed off under the eyes of acute wit- 
nesses without disclosing an iota of the decep- 
tion being practiced. So real has all been made 
to appear, that daughters in ecstasies of joy 
have rushed into the outstretched arms of a 
supposed materialized mother, when, if they 
could have seen and known in reality the being 
representing the mother they would have 
shrunk from the appearance with horror, for 
back of this veneer-likeness to a mother or 
other dear relation is the true features of a 
malignant iiend, fresh from the instigation to 
some awful crime, or from gloating over the 
fall or ruin of some human being. 

Not all of these pernicious performances are 
successful as deceptions, which shows that this 
materializing phase resulting from the arts and 
sorceries connected with spirit manifestations 
is only being learned, and that in the ranks of 
Satan's materializers are some skilled artisans 
and others that are merely bungling neophytes. 
These failures at times, as a whole or in part, 
coupled with disclosures of fraud, have led 
many shallow-minded people to cry out u jug- 
glery, tricks of mediums," etc., and to regard 
the practices as being mere diversions and com- 



22 

paratively harmless, whereas the whole thing, 
although being an awful delusion as to admit- 
ting of interviews between the living and the 
dead, is yet a horrible truth as to the presence 
and power of devils in producing the phe- 
nomena. 

But this materializing art for rendering pos- 
sible and bringing about these supposed inter- 
views of the living with their departed rela- 
tions and friends, is of a kind and allied to 
Satan's necromantic devices and practices all 
along the centuries past, and regarded in this 
light only, it is simply a way of deceiving dif- 
ferent from those of more ancient times. It is, 
however, much more than this — it is deeply 
significant. While it would appear at first 
thought to evidence an advance in Satan's skill 
and powers for manifestation, yet when viewed 
in the light of his antecedents it proves the 
contrary — retrogression. 

Now, from a standpoint in the uncertain past 
as to time, and taking the antecedents of the 
fallen angels into account, we will try to set 
forth our conception of the underlying purpose 
of this materializing phase in demonian decep- 
tive operations, as hereunder: 

Spirit bodies, composed of empyreal matter 
and vitalized by an energizing elixir, are not 
imperishable. The fact of their having had a 
beginning, according to human reason at the 
maximum, as formulated in philosophy, is am- 



23 

pie and conclusive as evidence that they are 
destined to have an ending, unless Omnipotent 
power intervenes in some way to revitalize them 
or prolong the life-principle by which they are 
animated. This touching with renewed life 
we call elixiviation, which is usually bestowed 
upon a spiritual being at the time of a rise by 
divine permission or at the call of Christ to a 
higher plane, or upon assignment to more im- 
portant duties. These touches of life or elix- 
iviations Satan and his fallen hosts can never 
expect to receive, and without them their 
bodies, as they now have them, will, in the 
course of time disintegrate. Although it may 
require ages for this to take place, yet it will 
be a sure future result, and the effect will be in 
some measure analogous to the breaking down 
of a physical body, in that the virility of in- 
tellectual power becomes affected, and a gen- 
eral weakening ensues, tending toward imbe- 
cility. Intellectual impairment has already 
overtaken these angels in rebellion, from the 
highest to the lowest, as is clearly evinced by 
the disclosed underlying purpose which now 
so prompts to assiduity in mastering the occult 
art of materialization, as will presently be 
shown. 

At the time of the revolt, which may have 
been ages ago, Satan and all the hosts that 
adhered to him were of the opinion that, 
sooner or later, in view of their formidable 



24 

numbers — which extended to a third of the ag- 
gregated hosts of heaven, or one hundred mil- 
lion — and for the sake of a restoration of har- 
mony once more, God would provide conditions 
of amnesty, or offer a compromise or some ac- 
ceptable means for their return to favor. This 
view was held by them generally, with some 
misgiving on the part of a few, until the incar- 
nation of the Messiah; this dispelled the delu- 
sion, and ever since then the fiat: "The soul 
that sinneth, it shall die," has sounded as the 
knell of coming doom in their ears; for we 
believe that this fundamental divine statute, 
with its correlative, which says that whatsoever 
one sows that shall he also reap, is of force in 
all the inhabited worlds as well as the earth. 
These fallen beings now realizing that a de- 
terioration is slowly creeping upon them, 
evinced by limitations and confines observed 
as compassing them about, and that a retri- 
bution commensurate with their disobedient 
and sinful career will some time have to be 
endured, and that annihilation will finally re- 
sult through the failure and disintegration of 
their spiritual bodies, are trying to learn and 
perfect the art of materializing, not alone that 
they may more successfully deceive earthly 
people, but that they may escape a doom that 
now stares them in the face. Their deep under- 
lying purpose, which is clearly evinced, is to 
obtain such mastery over the laws governing 



25 

physical matter as to reincarnate themselves, 
and step forth into the physical world as visi- 
ble beings, adapted to physical as well as spir- 
itual conditions, and capture the earth by phys- 
ical means and powers — and as such beings, so 
coming into the world, would be indestructible 
in batfcle, it will readily be seen that could they 
thus gain a physical entrance, the destruction 
of all human beings and the capture of the 
earth for their own use and purposes would be 
easy of accomplishment — or, failing in this, 
to secure such a combination of physical and 
empyreal material as will enable them to renew 
their bodies, from time to time, as there may 
be need, and thus defy the law that the sinner 
shall die, and defeat the purposes of the Most 
High. 

Obsessions, in almost every case, is but an 
effort on the part of some demon, assisted by 
others, to dislodge the human spirit and seize 
the body in a live condition in order to gain an 
entrance into physical life. The discordant 
physical and mental conditions apparent gen- 
erally in such cases, result from such contests 
and efforts at piracy by these disembodied 
fiends. There is no safety or security from 
such attacks save through prayer and reliance 
on the strong arm of the Lord, who can save to 
the utmost. 

That they have such purposes, and are as- 
siduously working for their accomplishment, 



26 

is most positive evidence of the deterioration 
which has already taken place in their mental 
status because of their course of sin. None 
of them in the prime and vigor of angelhood 
would have entertained for a moment so ab- 
surd an idea as that of the perpetuation of life 
by this retrograde movement, which is but tak- 
ing a new stand to cope with the omnipotent 
power of God. 

Ceasing to further study the fallen beings 
who so absorbed my attention for a previous 
interval, and drawing near a certain place 
where many were being stricken down by a 
prevailing epidemic, I could perceive that the 
spirits of wicked persons on leaving their phys- 
ical bodies had no power to rise nor even to 
maintain a poise on the earth's surface, but 
sank through all material things — neither the 
bed, the floor of a house, nor the earth itself 
stayed the force of spiritual gravitation by 
which they were seized. Down, down they 
went, clutching wildly and vainly at some- 
thing to stay their fall. Many plunged down 
with prolonged shriek which died away only 
as intervening distance hushed the fearful 
sound. Yet from these apparently forsaken 
regions angels were continuously carrying up 
infants and children, and many of mature and 
even old age, to the spiritual sphere, and some, 



presumably the elect, to heights immeasurably 
ab"ve this sphere. 

Here I sought to learu, and also to see, pre- 
cisely the sort of reception wicked spirits met 
on emerging from their bodies and plunging 
downward, but was not permitted to see nor 
even to learu in detail, but awful surmises rose 
up in my mind from seeing the character of the 
beings into whose power they passed when they 
went down. 

Passing over regions inhabited by Mahom— 
dans and other so-called heathen people, 
deeper shadows perhaps overhung in some 
places, but everywhere, in Christian or heathen 
lands, evil-doers were going down to death, 
while angels were bearing away the elect and 
the workers of righteousness to conditions of 
life, no matter what their faith or form of re- 
ligion. 

At this point a great truth became indelibly 
fixed in my mind, viz., that true religion — the 
religion of Christ — is a religion of doing, not 
of believing; and that the doing lies not so 
much in attendance at the appointed places for 
church service, nor in singing psalms or long or 
loud praying, as in following the Saviour's ex- 
ample in going about doing good ; which doing 
relates almost entirely to helpful service to 
one's feliow creatures — rendered where needed 
without respect to persons or their antecedents. 



28 

Light at this time fell upon other matters re- 
lating to Christ as a Saviour that have been 
much obscured by the doctrines and teachings 
of the "free agency" advocates, and of those 
who believe that the heathen in his ignorance 
is damned, and that infants not a span long 
unite their feeble wails in an everlasting hell — 
a lake of fire and brimstone. Some of the 
1 'grid-iron" brethren and those of the faith and 
u water-cure" persuasion, who seem to know a 
good deal about it, say that hell is a lake of hot 
water, holding salt to the point of saturation in 
suspension, and that this saline menstruum is 
heated by monster furnaces situated in caverns 
subterranean to the lake itself. Only morbid, 
irrational minds, can conceive of sentient be- 
ings crawling out of this lake, dripping with 
boiling brine, to be plunged back with a pitch- 
fork, and this to be incessant through an end- 
less eternity. Such doctrines and views, to 
rational minds, declare God to be a monster, 
having every attribute to excite fear and terror 
in a finite mind, but a being impossible to love 
or worship. 

The light alluded to reveals Christ as a Sav- 
iour ever since God determined to make the 
great sacrifice, even before humanity appeared 
upon the earth; and the blood of Christ as a 
predetermined means of saving those whom he 
foreknew, and determined, because of this fore- 
knowledge and what it revealed concerning 



29 

them, to conform to the image of his Son; it 
also reveals the fact that Christ has saved very 
many more of people who never knew him, ex- 
cept perhaps as a hearsay deity, than of those to 
whom the gospel has been constantly preached 
and who profess to believe in him as a Saviour 
to all who will repent, accept him, and be bap- 
tized. The doomful words of Christ were, "I 
never knew you" — not u you never knew me." 
Many conditions and circumstances in con- 
nection with the separation of body and spirit 
I had observed and come to understand, but 
it astonished me to see a spirit take form at 
the emergence as if intact, and immediately 
disintegrate and vanish. Such a phenomenon 
seemed inexplicable, and I remained long pon- 
dering the matter in connection with its cor- 
relations. While in this mood an angel of sage- 
ly bearing and grave visage, whose expression 
of countenance was most benign, approached 
near, to whom I said : "I have just beheld a 
spirit emerge from the physical body intact 
and immediately disintegrate and vanish ; this 
to me is exceedingly strange, for in the world 
we are taught that the spirit is immortal — can 
never die — must foiever rejoice in heaven or 
suffer eternal pangs in hell." To this the an- 
gel replied : "In the world many fallacies are 
taught. In the revelation made to earthly 
people they are told that 'God alone hath im- 



30 

mortality. ' According to the reasoning of 
earth's people in their more profound philoso- 
phy, the fact of life beginning in the initial 
stage of earth furnishes an ample predicate of 
an ending; it is, therefore,- strange that they 
should consider life inherent in individuals who 
have barely gained a foothold on the initial 
plane of life. All life is evolutionary, and is 
manifested in cycles : first a period of aggre- 
gation or accretion, growth — then a period of 
decline and disintegration — death. All life 
ends with the first cycle except the omnipo- 
tent hand of God intervenes to stay death that 
retributive law may be executed, or in order 
that chosen ones may be transplanted, as it 
were, to favorable conditions in spiritual life to 
live for his glory. Even these have not life 
inherent — it is a gift to them and is maintained 
by God, who looks upon them with favor. 
Disintegration is death. The spiritual body is 
composed of empyreal elements, is atomic and 
accretive in its nature, is as tangible to the spir- 
itual senses as the physical body is to the 
physical senses, and can disintegrate in much 
the same manner, except as to putrefaction 
and the evolving of gases. When the spirit- 
ual body disintegrates, dies — the soul, the life- 
principle, becomes extinct. You have wit- 
nessed the death of a spirit which had lived 
out the usual tenure of initial life, but was not 



31 

of those whom the Lord saw fit to translate to 
a higher plane of life. You might have no- 
ticed that no guardian attended at the physi- 
cal death to assist and direct the emerging 
spirit, which is never the case with one to 
whom the Lord has determined to perpetuate 
life, such an one has a guardian appo ! nted at 
tne first dawn of life. On the earth this being 
lived out a natural life, had no sin save what 
come through inherited predisposition, which 
was covered by the blood of Christ ; or, if, as an 
individual, he had sinned willfully, he had re- 
pented and been pardoned — had wronged no 
one, was not selfish beyond the bounds orig- 
inally intended and prescribed by nature's 
laws; earth-life had been satisfying to him, 
and he had lived up to his rightful privileges 
but had not transcended them ; in fact, had 
received his reward, life — earth-life, and what 
that means — and no vital influx came to sus- 
tain the momentarily organized spiritual au- 
tonomy. Pardon for sin relieves from penalty, 
but does not give title to spiritual life. The 
issues of life and death are with God, and the 
inexorable laws governing them were in force 
from the beginning. Physical life is trans- 
mitted and perpetuated by physical life, by 
means of the law r s governing parentage. Spir- 
itual life is the gift of God — given to whom he 
will ; why he makes choice of some and not 



of others, what he sees that causes the favor- 
able action as to those of his choice, and when 
he makes the selection, are alike only known 
to the infinite mind. In the revelation made 
to earthly people it is said he loved Jacob be- 
fore he was born — be 1 ore he had even entered 
upon the first plane of life. Those you have 
seen plunge below T are so consigned by a law 
over which there is no power of control in all 
the universe save in the omnipotent hand of 
God. The law as a legal statement is : ' The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die.' These spirits 
will not live forever, they have now forever 
passed away from light into the earth to which 
they belong. God is not vengeful, he is merci- 
ful, and the law applying in their case was 
framed by infinite wisdom, and in its appli- 
cation justice is tempered with mercy, in that 
by repentance all could have been forgiven, 
and this would have given exemption from a 
suffering penalty, and from the power of their 
implacable enemies into whose clutches they 
have gone. In its plainest expression the law 
is: 'What a man soweth that shall he also 
reap.' For these their course in the earth- 
life determines the intensity of their punish- 
ment and its duration. There is this much of 
mercy for them : Neither Satan nor his fallen 
adherents can give or prolong life, therefore 
they can only afflict them while life lasts, and 



33 

assuredly the Lord will not sustain such lives 
a moment beyond the demands of retributive 
law. Then relief comes in death — the death 
of the spirit — the second death. 

Closing the above, the celestial sage turned 
to pass away, when I ventured again to ques- 
tion : "What will ultimately be the doom of 
these fallen beings now infesting the earth ?" 
On seeing that my inquiry would receive at- 
tention, and feeling encouraged by the kindly 
air of my instructor, I ventured further : "And 
pray tell me of heaven — what should I under- 
stand by the term 'heaven' — and what is meant 
by the 'end of the world?' " 

The reply came thus: "In God's govern- 
ment there is no violent process — no speedy 
execution of sentence, as would be so under- 
stood in earth-life. There are processes of 
silent inexorable law that operate directly upon 
the criminal, which veer not an iota from the 
requirements of infinite justice, by which the 
judgments of the Most High are executed. If 
the final scourge for them is to endure a burn- 
ing heat, then an invisible, irresistible force of 
gravity will carry them to the region adapted 
to the execution. These fallen ones are in sin, 
and in the grasp of the laws just mentioned. 
You have noticed that they are now confined to 
the lower stratas of earth's air; they can main- 
tain their poise there only for a short while, and 



34 

can not reach earth's spiritual sphere at all. 
According to the highest wisdom in our ranks, 
in the fullness of time the force of spiritual 
gravitation will be so increased or intensified, 
or the deteriorating effects of their course in 
sin will so weaken them, as to confine them 
below the earth's surface, perhaps in its lower 
depths, where the inexorable law of retribu- 
tion will seize them ; then will they realize the 
full import and meaning of the Lord's words : 
'What measure ye mete it shall be measured 
to you again.' They are now gradually being 
bound with chains of their own forging. 

"In reply to your next question, I will say at 
the outset that the term 'heaven' is not easy of 
explanation. Finite beings in physical as well 
as spiritual life, have capacity for range of 
thought and inquiry immensely beyond their 
ability to comprehend. From this source 
questions may easily arise that only the Infi- 
nite mind could answer, and if so answered 
would not be understood. You will remember 
that in the revelation made to earthly people 
the Lord said in import: 'If I tell you of 
earthly things and you cannot understand, 
how will you understand if I tell you of 
heavenly things?' It is from this cause that 
no effort is made in the revelation referred to 
above to explicitly describe heaven, or the 
heavens. In a primary sense, heaven is the 



35 

realm of spiritual life, in contradistinction to 
physical life, wherein spirits are clothed with 
wasting bodies of flesh, infused with a flesh- 
sustaining fluid called blood, which is the 
primordial physical element ; in heaven their 
bodies are of empyreal matter, permeated 
with a vitalizing elixir that, except a necessity 
for elixiviations at long intervals, is self-reju- 
venating. 

"Existence in nearly an aggregate sense ends 
on the plane of physical life. Although the 
happy beings having habitation upon the 
earth's spiritual sphere would appear to a finite 
mind as innumerable, yet, taking into consid- 
eration the vast number of generations that 
have lived upon the earth and passed away, 
this sphere is not populous. The accessions 
are not numerous even from the great aggrega- 
tion of human life sustained by the earth at 
this day. 

"Comparatively few are chosen to live in ce- 
lestial life for the Lord's glory, and in the decree 
so designating and setting apait those few is the 
grant of life only, and this not because of any 
meritoriousness. It confers no position, rank, 
or degree of happiness. Obedience and good 
works are meritorious, and for these rewards 
are given — degrees of felicity, rank in the 
heavenly realm, positions of power and glory. 
The fact of inequality of capacity and the differ- 



36 

ential character of meritorious work on the 
part of these favored ones, gives rise to great 
diversity in the matter of rewards, and as the 
divine purpose of the rewards is to make the 
extended life joyous according to individual 
works, they must carry with them perfect 
adaptation to environment. Hence, heaven 
must consist of innumerable places, also innu- 
merable conditions and adaptations. 

There are many erroneous ideas concerning 
heaven. Many human beings regard heaven 
as without limitations, that they may flit trom 
planet to planet, and move at will through 
infinities of space, that all relations, powers, 
dignities, and all knowledge will at once be 
comprehended and become accessible to them ; 
others believe they will while away everlasting 
ages with harps, and with exhilarations bear- 
ing analogy to the pageants and festivities of 
earth. Such ideas are grossly incorrect. Many 
disabilities and limitations, as known and 
lived under in earth-life, are removed, but 
others of a more spiritual nature and adapta- 
tion become active. The heavens are places 
of order with a sense of fixation and place very 
apparent. One attains to a place in the 
heavens through good works and obedience, 
and not because of what is believed concern- 
ing heaven, or about God, or his holy Son 
Jesus, and it must be retained by always 



37 

standing in like attitude to all God's commands 
and requirements. But for this inflexible law, 
and the limitations by which it is enforced, 
Satan and any or all of his followers might 
take up their abode in the highest heaven, as 
they are not wanting in faith or the capacity 
for believing. 

"Power is given commensurate with every 
duty or requirement, but not in excess of what 
is needful, and perfect obedience is the first 
law of heaven. One may traverse great areas 
of space if called to do so, for with the require- 
ment comes the power to perform. 

"Everything in God's universe is governed 
by law — all control is by law ; sin and diso- 
bedience aloi?e transcend the bounds of ad- 
ministrative law. The place of adaptation in 
the heavens is reached by a spirit in obedience 
to a law — which for the purpose of illustration, 
I will call heavenly gravitation, the converse of 
that force of gravity which carries a wicked 
spirit to its destiny — and above this a legion of 
angels could not raise it, nor could Satan and all 
his cohorts confine it below. Its first im- 
pression on reaching the place of adaptation is 
of its own insignificance and of the magnitude 
of the wisdom, power and mercy of God that 
that has enabled it to arrive in safety ; it then 
becomes imbued with an abounding humility, 
is filled with a supreme love for God, and ever 



38 

afterwards acts in obedience to an overruling 
and ever-abiding desire to please God. A con- 
sciousness is had of how little it knows and 
of the immensities of knowledge now acces- 
sible to effort and application. An over- 
whelming surprise usually greets an arriving 
spirit ; everything is so different to what was 
anticipated ; in this, however, there is never a 
shade of disappointment. The difference is 
often very great, but it is readily seen that the 
false conceptions are only the legitimate re- 
salts of fallacious teachings and perversions 
of revelation in earth-life. The conditions 
encountered are easily perceived to be in ac- 
cord with the wisdom and goodness of the 
Omnipotent One who rules after the counsel of 
his own will. 

"Because a spirit at first finds its abiding- 
place in the lower heavens, it does not follow 
that it will forever so remain, for there is a 
possible growth in the heavens — attainment 
after attainment, embracing a scope ranging 
beyond the bounds of finite thought. There 
is a possible call to come up higher. Good 
works and obedience are still meritorious. 
Inequality and diversity are apparent; there 
is yet a basis for differentiation. God has no- 
where two things alike. 

"The heavens have been created, and, like 
all created things, they have a cycle in which 



they subserve a divine purpose, after which 
they become useless and pass away. In your 
revelation you have the intimation of a new 
heaven. Considered in its relation to the 
earth, and as viewed from that standpoint, 
you can descry the first heaven from where 
you stand ; to this the Lord referred when he 
said blessed were the meek, for they should 
inherit the earth. Beyond this are sphere af- 
ter sphere and zone upon zone throughout the 
infinite immensity of space — a house of many 
mansions indeed. 

"With regard to the final destiny of the earth, 
it is traditionary with us that some day, in the 
fullness of time, when the earth reaches a 
state of advanced age — and there are signs of 
the 'sear and yellow leaf now — and when its 
life-sustaining material is exhausted, or so 
chemically changed as to be unfit to sustain 
the higher forms of life, the generative process 
ceases, and the command to bring forth after 
their kind is revoked, that Omnipotent power 
will be exerted in the earth to destroy all sin 
and extirpate all impurity, and by incandes- 
cent sublimation change its crude material and 
expand and spiritualize it so that it will reach 
out and subjoin itself to its spiritual sphere 
already existent, and become a spiritual in- 
stead of a physical center as it is now. It will 
then wheel in some spiritual orbit, be the 



40 

abode of sinless, happy beings, and our care 
and watchfulness as guardians will cease." 
So saying, my instruct jr joined otners moving 
swiftly to some distant height, and I was left 
to ray own thoughts, which presently became 
serious, for what had been shown to me aad 
given in answer to my questions had aroused 
a vehement desire to learn more. The sub- 
jects of many inquiring thoughts in my past 
life came into my mind, such as: "What 
are the offices of Christ, and how has he 
employed the centuries since he ascended 
into heaven?" "How did angels originate — 
were they special individual creations?" "The 
origin of evil — how came it to have a place 
in the universe of God?" All these came 
in at once, intruding their presence among 
the new and unsettled thoughts alreaxtyin pos- 
session of my mind, causing me to become 
oblivious to my condition and surroundings. 
This lasted, however, but a brief space and 
was succeeded by a creeping sensation of fear, 
which caused me to glance about quickly, when 
my eyes fell upon a being, only a few feet 
away, having the most malignant expression 
of countenance I had ever seen, and peering 
at me as if meditating attack. But in a mo- 
ment this evil presence departed with a spring, 
like a beast of prey, and an angel of most 
lovely appearance ana benign expression stood 



41 

by me, saying, as I looked with grateful feel- 
ing in his face, "Did you know that a minute 
ago you were in danger?" I told him I had 
realized it, and now felt deeply thankful for 
the rescue. At this moment a fearful impres- 
sion was made on my mind by the circum- 
stance just related, viz., that while devils can 
not assault and tear or rend a corporeal body 
by instruments and direct force of their own, 
a disembodied spirit — one clothed in empyreal 
substance — once in their power, would fall a 
victim to dreadful cruelties inflicted by ways 
awful and violent. In coming to realize this, 
the destructive nature of sin came fully to 
view, in the fact that the monstrous being 
with whom I had nearly come in contact but a 
moment ago, was once as pure in thought, 
with a bearing of grace and features as fair as 
the one now protecting me. The once angelic 
form was so marred and changed by sin as not 
to be recognized as ever having had such an 
origin. I was then told that I had been under 
close protection since appearing in my present 
semi-trance or psychologic condition, and that 
my instructor of short while past had given a 
signal to my present attendant before leaving. 
At this point the thought that this was the 
time to inquire concerning the Saviour came to 
me most forcibly, and I said : "Pray tell me 
about Christ, our Saviour — where he is, and 



42 

how he has been occupied through the centu- 
ries since he ascended.' ' To this he replied: 
"Well, I can tell you but little, except in a 
general way." And in answer to my look of 
surprise at this statement, he said: "I have 
uniformly observed that earthly beings either 
ignore our existence altogether or attribute to 
us knowledge and power which the Most High 
only possesses. We belong to a finite race, 
and except being relieved of the necessities 
and limitations incident to life in the flesh, our 
powers and capabilities are but little beyond 
those of earthly people who have experienced 
regeneration, and when these latter are trans- 
lated through death, many of them attain to 
planes in heavenly life immensely above us. 
We are mortal, as are all created things — the 
joyous existence we have is the gift of God, 
given to us and sustained by his power, be- 
cause of his love for his obedient creatures ; 
the power of life is not inherent in ourselves. 
Christ, concerning whom you inquire, is im- 
mortal, has a divine nature and the infinite 
characteristics of his Father; excepting the 
Father, he is the only being in the universe 
who has life in and of himself, this was given 
him by the Father, because he had a divine 
nature ?nd could receive the gift. This infi- 
nite characteristic could not be imparted to a 
finite nature; continuous life for such beings 



4;] 

must be sustained by Omnipotent power. It 
is not inherent; it is conditional — conditioned 
on obedience. Christ's abode is with the Most 
High; he is occupied with creative work and 
the preservation of created things, and with 
whatsoever concerns or is included in the will 
and purposes of his Father. The domain of 
his ministrations and governing power is com- 
mensurate with the universe of God. In co- 
ordination with the Father, his works are 
mighty, are wrought in silence, and develop 
slowly but surely. His redemptive work on 
earth opened the way to spiritual life for all 
God's chosen ones from the dawn of life in the 
initial stage to the last day of earth's genera- 
tive process. This work was far-reaching in 
results; we may not yet know the length and 
breadth of its effectiveness and application. It 
will yet utterly obliterate sin and angelic rebel- 
lion from the universe. No doubt he has 
wrought many great works of which we know 
nothing, and will not know until future devel- 
opments manifest them. 

"We who are assigned to the guardianship of 
earthly people, and to watch and keep within 
confines the fallen beings in rebellion against 
God, are not of those who minister around the 
throne of the Almighty, who see and serve in 
the immediate presence of Christ. I have not 
seen the Holy One with whom Christ dwells. 



44 

Only once in the ages of my joyous spiritual 
existence have I seen, from the outer circles of 
an innumerable congregation, the abode of the 
Most High, and the connecting circumstances 
and impressions made upon me by the view I 
can not describe to you with much of detail. 
It was a vast assemblage, convoked at the 
close of a great cycle, and in the distance ap- 
peared to me a great elevation or mount, rising 
from a seemingly endless plain, but of very 
easy ascent because of w r hat seemed to be nu- 
merous terraces, narrowing in width as they 
neared the crest of the mount, where, standing 
out in dazzling brilliancy a canopy could be 
seen, of dome shape, with a sparkling pinnacle 
rising to a great height ; about the entablature, 
and as an environment to the sacred precincts 
of the Omnipotent throne, there seemed pend- 
ent great folds and convolutions of transcend- 
ent light; an indescribable radiance of every 
conceivable hue hovered over the mount; 
while below and surrounding it and stretching 
away in distances immeasurable, lay a vast 
plain, emerald hued, upon which were congre- 
gated, in multitudes innumerable, the minis- 
tering angels of God, commencing upon the 
uppermost terrace and graduating downward 
according to rank in the heavenly realm. 
From this blest region and fountain of glory 
Christ came forth, and, with that sublime hu- 



45 

mility which characterized him while clothed 
with flesh in his earth-life, passed along these 
terraces and down and out upon the plain, 
taking the hands of all within reach, recog- 
nizing and extending loving greetings to all 
alike, without regard to rank or to what duty 
assigned. You would presently ask if this 
glorious mount is the permanent abiding-place 
of the Most High and the Divine Son, to which 
I will answer at once, I do not know. God 
manifests himself at different times and by 
different means, pleasing to himself, but often 
of the ways he chooses we would never have 
conception or anticipation. There is an in- 
cognosible realm lying back of the Omnipotent 
throne which finite beings can never penetrate 
by means of the mental faculties which con- 
stitute their reasoning and perceptive endow- 
ment; it is incogitable. Not a scintilla of light 
has ever illumined the merest speck in this 
region to the mind of angel or human being. 
At longer or shorter intervals Christ bestows 
a greeting and a loving personal interview upon 
every angel in his service, from the highest to 
the lowest. This is about all I can tell you. 
We can not relate much beyond the scope of 
our experimental knowledge. We have tradi- 
tionary lore reaching back ages upon ages be- 
fore I came into the sphere of life and extend- 
ing to remote periods in the future, but it bears 



46 

close analogy to earthly history, consisting of 
opinions and statements of finite and mortal 
beings. 

"One of these having reference to future 
events, we love to ponder more than others, 
because, if true, it furnishes a demonstration 
of the far-reaching effects of the redemptive 
work of Christ, and by it we can see where the 
blessed results will ultimately accrue to us as 
a class of God's creatures. The tradition is, 
that at some time, in the remote future per- 
haps, there will be convened an assemblage 
most transcendental in its character and pur- 
poses ; that it will consist of and include all 
spiritual beings existent at that time; that its 
main purpose will be to announce the utter 
obliteration of sin and rebellion throughout 
the universe of God; at which time 1he fin- 
ished work of Christ will be formally accepted 
by the Father, followed by the crowning and 
exaltation of the Son to a perfect divine co-or- 
dination; and that on this occasion the Most 
High will manifest himself plainly and visibly 
to all his creatures as never before. 

"Although we have no certain knowledge 
coming to us by divine authority, we look for- 
ward to this event and the possibilities in con- 
nection with grateful hearts; the contempla- 
tion is joyous — no sin to witness, no confines of 
rebellion to guard, no millions of human beings 
every moment in need of protection and de- 



47 

defense — disabilities and limitations removed; 
a universal reign of peace and good will. 

"There may be blessed results from the re- 
demptive work of Christ, yet to be manifested, 
which lie so far in the future as to range only 
as conceptions in the divine mind, but which, 
in the fullness of time, will mature as precious 
fruits demonstrative of the infinite power, wis- 
dom and love of God. Evermore in silence 
are the great purposes of the Father worked 
out by the Son. Long ago men were told of 
his manner of work — that a bruised reed he 
would not break, nor would he quench the 
smoking flax. The flat utterances of the be- 
ginning resolved themselves into legal formu- 
lations and became immutable law — taking 
place as Omnipotent decrees; these silent yet 
inexorable forces Christ has ever used in ac- 
complishing his great works. There is no 
violence in divine procedure — violence first 
came to view as one of the exigencies of the 
great rebellion, and is now reckoned by those 
in contention with God as belonging to the 
peerage among instrumentalities." 

After due thanks for what had been given in 
answer to my first question, I further made in- 
quiry concerning the origin of angels, to which 
reply came as follows: 

"God's creative power appears to have been 
exerted at intervals along the great cycles of 
the past, and probably will be throughout the 



48 

eternal ages now future. The earth is only a 
fragment of his great works, a mote as it were in 
the sunbeams. Nowhere are they finished, no- 
where have they bounds. Growing, develop- 
ing, changing, evolving, are terms aptly de- 
scriptive of his handiwork. Angels who have 
been called up to exalted estates in the realm 
of heaven, have at times been intrusted with 
missions to distant worlds, in the prosecution 
of which they have voyaged through immensi- 
ties of space, crossed the orbits of and visited 
numerous planets, held converse with spirits 
having habitation on the spiritual spheres of 
such planets as well as with attendant angels 
local to these planetary regions; and met and 
conversed with angels returning from missions 
to worlds still more remote. From no source 
have we even an intimation of any bounds to 
God's creative work, or the universe; nor is 
there in angelic tradition any reference to a 
world revolving on the confines of creation. 
Angels have come upon life's primary plane 
just as you have, only upon some physical 
planet created and set in motion it may be 
ages ago. Why we are called angels, in con- 
tradistinction to human beings, I know not, 
unless the term originally conveyed the sense 
of seniority in the order of God's creation of 
physical planets for the generation of life. 

The planet upon which 1 reached initial life 
has long since ceased to have existence as a 



49 

physical sphere. Some of the gross residuum 
of its physical matter, after sublimation, may 
have reached the earth as meteorites or as star- 
dust. As a spiritualized sphere it revolves in 
a spiritual system, and is the habitation of 
happy beings who came into life during its 
physical career, few of whom have attained 
a higher stand in spiritual life so far. 

U I may here give you some idea of the con- 
ditions that will likely prevail on the earth 
prior to its demise as a physical sphere, by 
telling you something of what was present and 
transpired on Amphyamia, my home planet, 
before and during the change from a physical 
to a spiritual sphere. I know it is said that 
God never made two things alike: that infinite 
diversity appears in all his creative work. But 
in the midst of diversity similarity may be 
discerned; continuity of design and likeness 
in ensemble characterizes all fields of divine 
construction that finite minds may explore, 
and the probability is, that no very material 
difference will appear in the conditions prece- 
dent to a cessation of physical life on the earth 
and what obtained in the cases of other planets 
that have changed from the lower to the higher 
or spiritual existence. 

"I came into life on this planet at a time that 
might properly be called its middle lffe. Its 
water exceeded the land in superficial area in a 
proper proportion; its climates were equable; 



50 

its fertility, although drawn upon heavily, but 
little impaired; its population not dense and 
fairly distributed ; its surface mainly undulat- 
ing, with many vast fertile plains, and a num- 
ber of mountains of moderate altitudes and 
great areas of dense forests. Everything was 
adapted and nicely adjusted to the purposes of 
generating and sustaining life — little exertion 
being required to obtain a subsistence for either 
human beings or for animal life in general. All 
things bore an equal and easy relation one to 
another. This was the status generally at the 
time when the first signs of decline appeared. 

"Just here I may mention that a planet in its 
course exhibits many characteristics which ap- 
pertain to the lives of animals and plants, viz. : 
youth, manhood, old age, or decline and disin- 
tegration, in the analogy to human life; and a 
period of germination, wherein types are 
formed and the numerous species in plant life 
appear; then a period of growth, in which the 
type characteristics are transmitted, and the 
whole greatly multiplied; then the foliage be- 
gins to sear, exchanges green for yellow, fol- 
lowed by brown, then comes frost, then decay 
and death. 

"Now I will try to mention the first and suc- 
cessive, signs of decline and advance towards 
disintegration, as they appeared to me, from 
time to time, from standpoints a little below 
the planet's spiritual sphere. Loss of fertility 



51 

was first observed, accompanied by erosions 
and barrenness of vegetation on the higher 
elevations — the surface soil passing to the lower 
levels, heavy rainfalls serving as a menstruum 
of conveyance. A perceptible irregularity ap- 
peared in the seasons, the distribution of water 
by rainfalls became unreliable — inclining to- 
ward the erratic — and aridity became an ad- 
verse condition affecting the sustenance supply 
from the soil for both men and animals and all 
living things. These adverse features became 
more and more apparent and resulted at times 
in calamitous conditions, destructive of life in 
places for lack of sustenance; in the meanwhile 
human population doubled and trebled, and, 
save the larger wild animals, which required so 
much to sustain them, all animal and insect 
life appeared in greater aggregations than the 
human. A few more centuries rolled by, dur- 
ing which all that was adverse and antagonistic 
became greatly augmented, so that great hard- 
ship and onerous labor was requisite to obtain 
a sufficiency to sustain life. Human popula- 
tion was doubled and trebled again, the larger 
animals used as food disappeared , and bread, 
made from flour-producing grain, constituted 
the main food supply of the people, fruit, as a 
source of sustenance, being greatly diminished 
by attacks of depredating and edacious insects 
and early and late frosts. About this age, most 
of the birds having been exterminated wan- 



52 

tonly or through human search for animal food, 
insect life, having little or no check upon it, 
appeared in aggregations beyond computation, 
consuming and destroying the growing crops, 
and rendering abortive much of the labor be- 
stowed in agricultural lines; atmospheric dis- 
turbances became frequent and very destruc- 
tive, hurricanes and cyclones chasing each other 
around and crossing and recrossing each 
other's paths; and the forests having been con- 
sumed or wantonly destroyed, aridity became 
permanent, only alternating with the fall of 
torrents of water, which left destruction in its 
wake. The problem of how to maintain an 
existence became reduced to the survival of the 
fittest, the strong displacing the weak. 

u At about this juncture of affairs and condi- 
tions of the planet the Omnipotent Creator ap- 
peared to revoke the command to all things to 
bring forth after their kind, and life on all lines 
began to diminish — vegetable as well as human 
and animal. Soon bald knolls and arid wastes 
described the terrestrial scenery; earthquakes 
were incessant below, while the atmospheric 
elements howled and raged above. The force 
of gravity weakened and all structures began 
to totter, and the terrestrial surface assumed a 
billowy conformation, while innumerable frac- 
tures occurred through which long pent-up 
gases issued and combined with the perturbed 
elements, destroying the proportionate equi- 



53 

librium, and rendering the whole ignitible; 
after which the atomic or molecular force be- 
gan to give way, and tongues of flame shooting 
from millions of fractures ignited the sur- 
charged atmosphere, and in an instant there 
was a world wrapped in flames and fervent heat. 
The surface melted and oceans of water rushed 
to meet caverns of fire. 

"By the power of omnipotent forces, out of 
this refining and sublimating furnace arose a 
resplendent spiritual orb, which expanded and 
subjoined itself to its spiritual sphere already 
existent, and which constituted the first heaven 
for the chosen ones coming into life upon its 
physical plane." 

Perceiving this to be all my instructor had to 
say concerning angels and the planet upon 
which he came into life, I hastened to ask him 
with regard to the origin of evil and of the be- 
ings now in rebellion. On this point the fol- 
lowing explanation was given: "God's pro- 
visions, made in connection with his creative 
work, have always admitted of the origin of 
evil, or sin, for the reason that all races of be- 
ings to whom the faculties of reason and judg- 
ment have been extended he has made account- 
able to him and required obedience of them, 
and left them free to render this obedience or 
not. This should be a satisfactory explanation 
of the origin of evil, in an abstract sense, on 
the earth or any other inhabited planet, but as 



54 

to the evil or sin that has assumed such dis- 
astrous proportions in the earth, and with the 
effects of which all people, and angels too, 
have become familiar, while it originated in the 
principle just set forth, there were other cir- 
cumstances which led directly to its culmina- 
tion. Traditionally it is said that God's cre- 
ative work has always tended from the lower 
to the higher; that each time that he has 
stretched forth his hand to accomplish any- 
thing, the work has been on a greater scale, 
and the results of a higher and grander order. 
Accordingly, when these fallen and rebellious 
beings you see all around emerged from non- 
entity into life on a physical plane, and were 
raised by selection and appointment to the 
various planes or spheres in spiritual life, they 
were the highest types of mortal celestial be- 
ings then existent. Then all went well and a 
cheerful obedience was rendered; after a time, 
however, it pleased the Lord to evolve and per- 
fect a plan for generating life which would re- 
sult in beings of a higher type than those then 
inhabiting the heavenly plaDes. Soon splendid 
beings, hailing from the latest of God's creative 
enterprises, began to appear as newcomers 
among the older inhabitants of the 'house of 
many mansions.' They were received by the 
many with outstretched arms, and regarded as 
furnishing additional evideuce of God's infinite 
wisdom, power and love. A minor proportion, 



55 

however, turned from them with coldness. 
Mark this coldness, for the feeling in their 
hearts of aversion to these fellow- creatures 
without cause, which prompted the turning 
away, was inchoate evil — embryotic sin; this 
was the inception — the germ-life of death. 
Warming into life and nursing these feelings, 
they gradually came to regard these pure and 
happy beings in the light of rivals and usurp- 
ers, come to claim the prominence they them- 
selves had hitherto enjoyed. Thoughts of this 
kind preyed upon their minds, leading to an 
estrangement, then to avoidance; the binding 
cord of spiritual affinity snapped asunder, and 
then a desire for separation arose to goad them ; 
next followed positive hatred to all that re- 
mained loyal at heart and continued to live in 
obedience. Separation at last was decided 
upon and the heavenly abodes were deserted. 
This being the first step in open revolt, a gen- 
eral interest and anxiety for their safety became 
aroused throughout all spiritual ranks; and 
the nature of sin at that age not being fully 
comprehended by angelic minds, great efforts 
were made to induce these rebellious ones to 
return to loyalty and obedience, but to no avail. 
Many missions composed of angels of high or- 
ders went to them with overtures looking to a 
repair of the breach, but effected nothing. 
Then efforts at pacification ceased ; the bitter 
feeling resulting from disappointment, as a 



56 

small rivulet, was permitted to wind its way 
between them and their happy companions; 
the bitter feelings burned to direct enmity, and 
the little rivulet became a raging stream with 
turbulent surface; the enmity against their for- 
mer confreres in heavenly joys changed to a 
positive hatred for God and all things pure and 
good ; then the turbulent stream became an im- 
passable gulf. When the rupture was complete, 
and the revolt had come to a definite status, 
they having previously left their heavenly 
places, it became a controversy with them as to 
where they would become domiciled. Much of 
contention was had, and the discontented body 
became divided into factions of larger or 
smaller proportions, according to the popular- 
ity of several aspiring leaders. Several of the 
smaller factions withdrew from the main body, 
and later on became further subdivided, and 
drifted away along devious and declinate lines 
through interplanetary space. Zamiel, whom 
earthly people call Satan and other names, who, 
previous to the revolt, had maintained a high 
standing in the archangel order, and for qual- 
ity of intellect and ability to fill difficult posi- 
tions stood approved — this brightest and most 
capable of all the aspirants to leadership, by 
his matchless maneuvering held much the 
largest number together, but a wrangle con- 
tinued as to where they should set up their in- 
dependent domicile. Sin, even at this early 



period in the history of the revolt, by its de- 
teriorating and blighting effect, having placed 
a barrier to their moving upward, in a spirit- 
ual sense, it was therefore found, after much 
experimentation, that they had no alternative, 
but must turn downward toward physical con- 
ditions whence they came, and so commenced 
the drift which is not yet ended. In the course 
of their wanderings in interplanetary space the 
earth's orbit was reached, and on its boundary 
they hovered until the earth, in its annual revo- 
lutions, passed sufficiently near for them to 
plunge themselves into its air. and there being 
no spiritual sphere encircling the earth at that 
period to serve as a hindrance, there is but 
little doubt that most all of them successfully 
landed. Thus a foothold upon the earth was 
obtained, which has since been held. After a 
time its inhabitants were found, and the be- 
guilement and sin followed. But it should be 
understood that sin could have appeared on the 
earth had these rebels never reached it at all. 
The gulf of separation between the loyal and 
disloyal was impassable at first, and it has wid- 
ened constantly down through the ages. Thus 
selfishness and pride were engendered in their 
bosoms, which, being nursed and nourished, 
have grown and dominated every virtue of their 
hearts, and opened a way of entrance into their 
minds for every noxious and impure growth, 
making foul their imaginations and prostitut- 



ing all their powers and faculties as sentient 
beings, till now we behold them as stark warn- 
ings to a universe of the destructive power of 
sin, and that it inevitably leads to ruin and ul- 
timately to death. You see them all around 
working for the wages of sin." 

Here an interruption occurred ; my guide ap- 
peared to descry some distant object, and, turn- 
ing, gazed steadfastly for a moment, saying, 
as to himself, "They have returned, sure 
enough." Looking in the direction indicated 
by the gaze of my guide, I could discern a 
group of angels moving with great swiftness, 
apparently in a very stroug current, and it ap- 
peared to me as though they would pass us by, 
but upon some motion or signal by may attend- 
ant, they turned toward our point, and in a 
few moments were in a group about us. The 
meeting was most cordial; the greetings 
seemed to be mutual and heart-felt, and to em- 
anate from souls unused to any emotions save 
those resting upon the basis of love. Beings 
of such gracious presence my eyes had never 
before fallen upon. They evidently belonged 
to a higher order of spiritual beings than my 
attendant at the time, but there was no supe- 
rior air about them or shown in their attitude 
toward the one they had stopped to greet to 
indicate this; on the contrary, he was treated 
precisely as one of their number. 

This meeting was most opportune for me, for 



59 

after the joyous greetings and gratulations 
were over, an interesting conversation occurred 
bearing upon the mission they were returning 
from. My attendant made many inquiries, 
mentioning names, worlds and regions of which 
I knew nothing, but from the drift of the ques- 
tions and answers, and the allusions to angels 
and people local to the places they were return- 
ing from, I learned that their mission had been 
one only routine in character, and such as oc- 
cur at frequent intervals, and that their power 
and duties were directed to various ameliora- 
tions for people on primary planes, changes in 
adaptations and conditions in some of the spir- 
itual spheres, assignment of local angels to 
duty, and promoting some spirits from the 
spiritual spheres of their native planets to 
higher places and duties. 

One announcement interested me more than 
anything else revealed during the stay of this 
high ministerial group, it was a relation by one 
who was addressed as Simiel, of what had 
been told to him during a chance meeting with 
Michael in the recent past, at which time he 
was informed that a great war was being waged 
on the primary plane of the planet Euphatau, 
and that Michael and many others of the arch- 
angel order had gone thither for the purpose of 
restoring peace if possible. One of the group 
called Uriel, in connection with the circum- 
stance just related, said he had long ago heard 



60 

that sin had gained a footing on the planet 
mentioned, but had not thought of it as having 
such hold as to manifest itself in this manner. 

Various statements were made concerning 
sin in different planets, their names being men- 
tioned, and sometimes particular locations on 
their surfaces were referred to, noting in some 
cases local guardian angels, and in a few in- 
stances speaking of people who were taking 
active parts, by their proper names. The arch- 
angel in whose realm the place under discus- 
sion lay was always mentioned in the reference. 

One of the group addressed as Raguel, who 
appeared to me as a senior among them all, 
whose countenance beamed with the light of 
beneficence and good will, but who was other- 
wise grave in manner, whose opinion had sev- 
eral times been asked for and given during this 
conference, turning to my attendant observed, 
with something of seriousness in his tone and 
look, "If I read the signs aright, your little 
earth will before long present a scene of war- 
fare beside which the present belligerent out- 
break in Euphatau will appear as an affair of 
little moment. This latter planet is very large, 
the conditions of life are comparatively easy as 
yet, and there is very little discontent; the 
fallen rebels, under Plutonius, are few m num- 
ber, as compared with the planet's population, 
and the pacific influence from the spiritual 
sphere will be utilized by Hermion aud the 



61 

guardians under him: Michael having gone 
there is auspicious, he can exert a powerful in- 
fluence toward terminating hostile action, and 
it is wonderful how he can manipulate coun- 
cils among men when he has no .restraining or- 
ders: therefore I anticipate a speedy restora- 
tion of peace and harmony. Xot so with the 
earth, for there the conditions of life are hard 
for all except a few who have wrongfully ac- 
quired title to the terrestrial sphere and hold 
it as private property, causing the great masses 
of people to pay them for a foothold on the 
primary plane of life. This condition alone 
would bring destruction ultimately, were there 
not many other oppressive features not neces- 
sary to mention, but which will be contribu- 
tory when the day of reckoning up comes. 
There is but one other planet that I know of 
where the land surface was taken into individ- 
ual hands and ownership set up and recognized 
as right for a time, and that was Ottopo, which 
revolved on the outer limb of Raphael's do- 
main. There the rent-tax was borne until the 
condition of a dense population was reached, 
when a mighty uprising occurred, and in re- 
covering from the condition into which the 
nefarious trade in land placed it. half its popu- 
lation were slain. And from present indica- 
tions it will be worse than this with the earth. 
The discontent is earth-wide. In all nations 
the renters are looking with envious eyes on 



62 

the idle and unoccupied land on which they 
may not rest overnight without paying the 
owner. Then, the earth is teeming with popu- 
lation, and Zamiel is not only active himself, 
but has an ample corps of efficient coadjutors 
among earthly people besides the high caste 
order that descended with him, and the fallen 
hosts in millions are at his command, and he 
is vigilantly hedging up all avenues open to 
the poor for obtaining a subsistence, in order 
that their condition may become unbearable. 
In the ownership of land and in the use of la- 
bor-saving machinery and the monopoly of the 
industries he sees a means by which the earth 
may be nearly depopulated, and that a check 
in this way may be placed upon the rapid ex- 
haustion of its life-sustaining properties, that 
his reign upon the planet may be prolonged. " 

In reply to the foregoing, my attendant an- 
swered, "We that are local to this planet have 
seen all this, and realize that your conclusions 
are correctly drawn, but no remedy we are at 
liberty to apply would eradicate or even check 
the evils of which you speak, or prevent the 
dreadful consequences. We are simply await- 
ing the inevitable," 

At the close of the discussion concerning the 
earth, one of the group who had been addressed 
as Lithelius, made mention of the escape of 
the arch-rebel, Eabicheon, from the atmos- 
phere of the planet Paleon, and said it was not 



63 

thought that he or any of his adherents could 
maintain a control over their course if once be- 
yond the air-boundary of this planet, but he 
alone proved an exception, none of his fellow- 
discontents could follow him. When last seen 
he was drifting in a swift current toward the 
distant realm of Eschymeno; where he will 
find lodgment is altogether conjectural at the 
present. 

Another one of the group, whose name I did 
not hear, mentioned to my guide some things 
which he might to advantage show me, and 
others that he thought not worth while, as I 
would not understand them, and at this point 
the mission group passed on, leaving the same 
good angel by my side. 

The presence for even a brief space of time 
of these celestial voyagers was very opportune 
for me, and I regarded it as a great privilege, 
for the interview afforded me a deeper insight 
into and a clearer understanding of the divine 
power governing the universe; and of the 
means and instrumentalities utilized in carry- 
ing into effect the omnipotent will and pur- 
poses. My mind was now charged with new 
thoughts; glimpses of new fields and regions 
hitherto unknown to me had been gained, and 
query after query began to rise up in my mind, 
but before a question could be formulated, my 
guide, who had gazed after his departing visit- 
ors until a last adieu had been waved, turned 



64 

to me and said: "Partly on your account I 
hailed those passing missioners, thinking that 
a conversation would ensue in which you would 
be interested.' ' I returned answer that he had 
rightly concluded concerning the value and in- 
terest to me of the views and opinions ex- 
pressed by the several members of the group, 
and that I felt grateful for his having procured 
their halt and stay for the time they were with 
us. Just at this moment thoughts came into 
my mind as to how angels are instructed where 
to go and what to do, and, turning to my 
guide, I said, "How were those holy beings, 
who have just left us, taught or instructed con- 
cerning their duties and the acts they were to 
perform on their mission tour?" To this he 
answered: "Angels are instructed and guided 
in the performance of their various duties by 
impressions. We are not subject to evil im- 
pressions. Hence, an impression to go or do 
is obeyed instantly with a perfect faith as to it 
being our duty and the will of the Most High. 
These impressions come from the Holy Spirit 
of God, who occupies all space, is everywhere, 
knows us all, and the capacity of each, and 
makes use of us according to the dictates of in- 
finite wisdom. Impressions in detail do not 
come to all of us at all times; sometimes the 
the impression is to go to another for instruc- 
tions, then details are given orally by the one 
designated. Earthly people at times receive 



05 

impressions the same as we clo, and then they 
require to be guarded lest impressions from an 
evil source be received by them and the one be 
taken for the other. With us there is not this 
risk. Many of the fallacies that are believed 
and taught in the world have come originally 
as impressions upon the minds of individuals, 
and were supposed to be from God, when, in 
reality, they arose and were discussed as de- 
ceptive measures in the council chambers of 
Zamiel, and evil missioners were selected and 
sent out to impress these falsehoods upon the 
minds of certain designated individuals, and 
watch over and nurture their propagation and 
promulgation. And although counter-impres- 
sions are made by the Holy Spirit, and angels 
are at times assigned to the duty of maintain- 
ing a counter-action and dispelling the delu- 
sions if possible, they have been so astutely 
framed, and appeal so strongly to idiosyncra- 
sies or some evil element in the persons who 
have espoused them, that presentation of truth 
or persuasion will not disabuse their minds or 
eradicate the false impressions — and other 
means than presentation of truth and persua- 
sion we are not allowed to use." 

My attendant ceased speaking, and it occur- 
red to me to inquire more particularly concern- 
ing the fallen rebels infesting other planets 
besides the earth. I referred him to the re- 
marks of Lithelius, one of the group who had 



but a little while past left us, wherein he men- 
tions the escape of one Rabieheon, and asked 
him to explain to me why it was that this one 
could leave a planet upon which he had been 
living, it might be for a long time, and his ad- 
herents could not follow him; and where were 
those who drifted away in small factions soon 
after the revolt? To this he replied as follows: 
"'Over the spirit entirely imponderable the 
force of terrestrial gravitation has no power; 
the instant, however, that the physical law 
ceases to act, the converse of it — celestial grav- 
itation — becomes active. Angels, therefore, 
can pass from the air of a planet into inter- 
planetary space without difficulty, because the 
force of celestial gravitation permeates all in- 
terplanetary as well as planetary space, and 
bridges the chasm of vacuity between the 
earth's atmosphere and the interminable ether 
of interplanetary or outer space. It is not so 
with beings having even the smallest degree of 
ponderableness. When the revolt occurred, 
and rebellion appeared in the heavens, those 
involved incurred the penalty of sin; their 
spiritual power becoming weakened, and their 
course changing from a restful and gradual as- 
cension to a positive and certain declination, 
then it was that a degree of ponderableness 
.became a definite entity in the composition of 
their spiritual bodies, and this released the 
hold of celestial gravitation and made them 



(37 

amenable to terrestrial gra vie forces. Kb.w-, the 
earth moves along its orbit at a speed of sixty 
thousand miles an hour, and the planet Paleon, 
to which Lithelius referred, travels at a veloc- 
ity probably double that of the earth ; a large 
globe moving at this speed through a resisting 
fluid has its sphere of air compressed at the 
axes and elongated at its periphery or equato- 
rial line, thus splitting its way through the 
permanent ether of space; the impaction and re- 
bound from this contact leaves a great vacuum 
along its passage-way and for some distance in 
its w r ake. A spirit reaching this air-boundary 
with a body to some degree ponderable, en- 
counters this chasm of vacuity with terrestrial 
gravity still tugging at it, and showing a per- 
sistent reluctance to relaxing its hold, and no 
celestial force reaching over and furnishing 
passage-way across. To break the force of 
gravity by a spring or plunge may be to sink 
in the abyss and be caught in the swirls and 
vortices engendered by the impingement of 
terrestrial atmosphere on the permanent ethe- 
real matter occupying all space. Here it might 
be scorched, burned, ground, and experience 
avulsion after avulsion, and then, with return- 
ing consciousness find itself adrift in the air of 
the planet it had tried to leave, having been 
snatched back during its unconscious state. 
Although a spiritual body can not be destroyed 
by being violently torn asunder or limb from 



Cy$ 

limb, yet the excruciating agony attending such 
mangling is as great, and perhaps more acute 
than if the body was flesh and blood. In such 
a case, however, after a time, the natural affin- 
ity of part for part, and limb for limb, will be 
asserted and a conscious being with restored 
body will result. If by chance the air-bound- 
ary should be reached at a time when the vol- 
ume of air at one axis was much greater than 
at the other, causing the swiftly moving air to 
run for a moment smoothly in merest contact 
with the permanent ether, a* spring or plunge 
might be made and a footing gained in this lat- 
ter element, but even then a spirit with any 
definite degree of ponderableness, and with 
spiritual power greatly weakened, would 
flounder about, unable to maintain a poise or 
control its course, and would drift hither and 
thither, analogous to a ship in earthly waters 
when bereft of masts, sails, and rudder; celes- 
tial gravity would be inactive so far as con- 
cerned such spirit. Eabicheon probably took 
leave under circumstances as herein last de- 
scribed, and the atmosphere resuming an equi- 
librium and the chasm appearing, his follow- 
ers were deterred. The current Eabicheon was 
thought to be in and moving with may have 
only been a perturbation caused by the im- 
pingement of a swirl of air on an ethereal 
wall, a common incident to the passage of a 
large planetary body, and it might soon end up 



m 

m an eddy, and tbe traveler in its moving mat- 
ter become a permanent floater in the intermi- 
nable ethereal fluid filling all interplanetary 
space. The latter part of your question prob- 
ably no one finite being in the universe can 
answer. There are limitations to finite com- 
prehension, also limitations in capacity as to 
the volume of knowledge that can be held in 
readiness for use or impartation. Angels are 
finite beings, and yet they have to deal with 
infinities— infinity as to space, as to duration, 
as to number of worlds, as to number of be- 
ings, and so on ad infinitum Of all these we 
can know only an infinitesimal part, and that 
part more or less imperfectly. Of some of the 
rebel factions which separated from the main 
body which was led by Zamiel, and drifted 
away, nothing is probably known below the 
highest archangel circle; and unless they were 
able to reach and infest some physical planet 
or planets — as Zamiel and his adherents did the 
earth — and in this way become known to the 
local guardians of such planets, their where- 
abouts may not be known at this time even in 
the high circle mentioned. In their declinate 
course they could have passed beyond this and 
innumerable other solar systems, and as the 
sun of this solar system is carrying its family 
of planets through space at the rate of a hun- 
dred millions of miles a year, and, as far as we 
know, may not have passed over more thau a 



70 

small segment of its great orbit, a faint con- 
ception may be had of the distance that may- 
separate those drifting ones from those we see 
around us. From this you can see that it is 
possible for Eabicheon to never have sight of 
another sentient being though he might have 
existence for millions of years. We do not 
know where all of those are who remained 
loyal and obedient. It is possible that those 
in the guardianship service may be separated 
by immensities of space as great or even great- 
er than that which possibly divides the rebels. 
An awful feature in connection with the sub- 
ject of space is, that an angel in rebellion, who 
never prays, but instead curses God, can be 
everlastingly lost in the infinite immensity of 
space; by this I mean lost as far as angelic 
knowledge is concerned. God, who knows 
every atom or molecule of matter, whether 
solid, fluid, or gaseous, by its distinctive form 
as an entity, knows the whereabouts and the 
condition of every sentient being in the uni : 
verse. In the case of rebels, or those in diso- 
bedience and sin, it is not essential that thoy 
be collected into one place in order that retrib- 
utive law may inflict its penalty upon them; 
each one carries the germ of suffering and 
death in the bodies they inhabit, and this germ 
will sprout and bloom in the fullness of time, 
and a harvest according to the character of the 
sowing will be gathered.'' 



My attendant here paused and looked about 
as though he would shortly pass on, and as his 
remarks, in one or two instances, seemed to me 
to preclude the idea of a resurrection of a 
body from its grave or last resting-place, and 
of a general judgment, as taught and under- 
stood in the world, I hastened to ask him, as- 
follows: "In the world we are taught that 
there "will be, in the last clays, a resurrection of 
our bodies, no matter how long they may have 
laid in graves, at the bottom of seas, or other 
places where death seized them, and that there 
is to be a general judgment clay, and before* 
that bar will be collected all nations and people 
that ever lived on the earth, and a great book 
will be opened, and every soul judged and re- 
-warded or punished with an everlasting pun- 
ishment, and there are passages of Scripture, 
claimed to have been inspired, that seem to 
support these views. They are somewhat at 
variance with your statements in one or two in- 
stances; are they true or not?" To which my 
attendant replied thus: "The Scriptures to 
which you refer and from which these views or 
doctrines are derived, contain ail truth essen- 
tial and necessary to be known in the initial or 
primary stage of life, when rightly and cor- 
rectly understood ; it is misinterpretation that 
gives rise to erroneous doctrines and views. 
One among the chief writers in the Scriptures 
to which you refer, who is eminent now be- 



72 

cause of his earnest devoted life and his hav- 
ing written much that was true and useful, in 
speaking of the resurrection, says in one pas- 
sage: 'Thou sowest not that body that shall 
he,' and then in import goes on to say that the 
body sown dies and God gives a new body after 
a manner and of a kind pleasing to himself. 
There is no occasion for error to arise in under- 
standing the explicit statements of this writer. 
*'A spiritual body, reared in and being an out- 
growth of a physical body, is naturally pondera- 
ble — that is, earthy — to an extent that makes 
it amenable to the earth's gravity force, but 
when the spirit is regenerated, as the Saviour 
taught, an imponderable condition is wrought 
out and made inherent in the spirit's being, 
and then, when bereft of the physical covering, 
it appropriates to itself empyreal matter, held 
in suspension and in a state of readiness around 
it. and nevermore is it adapted to physical con- 
ditions. With this spiritualization comes re- 
lease from many of the limitations of earth- 
life, and this release brings into activity new 
laws and limitations hitherto unknown to the 
spirit. It is nevermore clothed with flesh and 
blood. For this to occur would be a perver- 
sion, and contrary to all natural law. The but- 
terfly never becomes redomiciled in its chrys- 
alid case; the giant oak recedes not back to the 
compass of an acorn, Retrogression leads to 
and terminates in death. All forms of life 



73 

cease to have being which are not moved on- 
ward and upward by the divine pulsations 
which sustain life throughout the universe. 
The emancipated spirit has nevermore a need 
for a physical body. As well take the trans- 
lucent porcelain vessel and plaster it over with 
the opaque mixture of clay, out of the refined 
parts of which it was constructed, and hope to 
improve its quality and enhauce its value there- 
by. No, the theory of the resurrection of the 
body, other than the spiritual one which 
emerges at the dissolution of the physical form* 
belongs to the realm of the mythical. The 
survival of the spirits of the righteous and 
their rehabilitation in spiritual matter is all 
that your Scriptures teach on this subject* 
More than this has false interpretation and tra- 
dition for its basis. No spirit after having 
passed from earth and gained access to earth's 
spiritual sphere ever desired reincasement in a 
physical body, except the fallen rebels, who 
have forfeited all desirable spiritual pos- 
sibilities. 

4 'Now, with regard to the clay of judgment^ 
the Scripture referring to this subject, wherein 
the words 'day of judgment' occur, would 
better express the correct idea by reading "judg- 
ment by the day/ One of the writers of Scrip- 
tural text said that with the Lord a thousand 
years was as a day and a day as a thousand 
years. Surely this would explicitly teach that 



'74 

the Lord did not reckon duration of time by 
days as understood in the world, consequently, 
by the world's revelation, there could be no 
judgment day, as day is understood. Judgment 
is by the day, and commences with the first 
moment in life wherein there is a conscious 
sense of right and wrong, and continues as 
long as there is a normal conscious existence, 
though that period might extend through mil- 
lions of years, or into the eternal ages. As 
long as a spirit has normal conscious life God 
will require obedience, and condemnation at- 
taches for non-compliance. So it is that not 
an Omnipotent Judge, but the finite spirit 
from day to day frames the final sentence. The 
execution of the sentence so framed is by law 
— ever silent, never deviating, inexorable law. 
Not in a great book is the good and evil re- 
corded that lies to one's account, but day by 
day, in obedience to inexorable law, an exact 
record is written in the soul's memory and 
made accessible to its consciousness; and that 
the record may be permanent, as a voucher its 
impress is ineffaceably fixed upon the innate 
spiritual being, and these impressions, which 
take rise from thoughts, purposes, words, and 
acts, are continuously being fixed during the 
period of normal conscious existence. At any 
period in life this record exhibits, with an in- 
finite exactness, the moral status and quality 
of the spirit, and determines its power and 



destiny. But in your mind you may say, How 
determines? Well, the earth is ponderable— 
that is, all its component parts have the qual- 
ity of weight, and are amenable to the law of 
terrestrial gravitation— and all things derived 
from it are of the same nature; but after the 
regeneration of the spirit, as explained in the 
course of my remarks on the subject of the 
resurrection of the body, and at the dissolution 
of the physical body, it can appropriate to 
itself a clothing of empyreal matter and be- 
come imponderable; but unless this change in 
the nature of the spirit is wrought by divine 
power, it must remain loyal and amenable to 
the earth's laws. Naturally, the spirit is an 
outgrowth and derived from a body of flesh 
and blood, which are ponderable substances, 
obtained from the earth. Now, there is a law 
— a force — the force of terrestrial gravity, and 
its realm of power covers all space, cubically 
considered, from the center of the earth in all 
directions to its outer atmospheric boundary, 
and by means of this force she holds and main- 
tains control over all ponderable things that 
have derived being or entity from her. The 
human being that loves the world and its ways, 
and has lived and labored principally for selfish 
purposes, mainly to gratify the appetites and 
desires of the fleshly body, is a ponderable be- 
ing, of the earth, earthy, and is in the full 
grasp of earth's gravity force, and without 



76 

divine intervention, will some day become as- 
sured of the truth of the saying that 'one can 
not rise to heaven loaded with earth.' The 
law of gravitation will have its hold to the ex- 
tent that the spirit has weight. But another 
law may become a factor in determining a spir- 
it's destiny, or in rendering judgment in its 
case, and that is the law of affinity, which is 
active throughout the universe. It acts in har- 
mony with either the physical or celestial laws 
af gravitation. The spirit is drawn to what it 
loves, whether good or evil. If it loves the earth, 
thai is, the world and the glories of physical 
life, it will be drawn to these things ; the laws of 
gravitation and affinity will hold it, and as 
the earth and the fullness thereof will ulti- 
mately be destroyed, so the adhering spirit 
will, in due time, cease to have existence. The 
imponderable spirit — and this means one with 
no love for evil things, with affections in no 
way set upon earthly things, even those that 
are regarded as harmless; a spirit with all of 
its purposes good and its mind pure; in other 
words, imponderable is here used as equivalent 
to the word righteous— when released from its 
physical body, can rise to its plane of adapta- 
tion in spiritual life, and no power of earth or 
that of rebel angels can pi event it doing so. 
Guardian angels, one or more, attend an emerg- 
ing spirit, and convoy it upward to its proper 
place, but they do not carry it as of their own 



77 

power, the power is in the spirit, they only di- 
rect it how to use the power inherent in itself — 
power imparted at the time of selection or ap- 
pointment to spiritual life. Without this power 
countless angels could not rescue it from the 
earth, but with it, Zamiel, with legions of his 
fallen adherents, could not drag il down. From 
this you will see that judgment and the execu- 
tion thereof is wrought out by immutable law. 
and that, so far as relates to the earth, judg- 
ment day commenced the very hour that the 
first human being came to a conscious knowl- 
edge of right and wrong — or good and evil.*' 
So saying, my attendant waved a sign to a 
passing angel to wait, and, turning to me, said 
he had guardian duty awaiting him, assuring 
me that I would not be molested, as Vala- 
rius was near, indicating the direction by point- 
ing, and then joined his waiting companion. 
On turning and looking in the direction indi- 
cated, I observed near by and approaching at a 
slow and measured gait, a very tall angel of a 
stately and dignified bearing, appearing to me 
to belong to the same order as the mission 
group that tarried a few moments with us a 
short while before. As he came closer I per- 
ceived he had a countenance reflecting great 
benevolence and kindness of heart, and seemed 
to be a senior to all who had thus far spoken 
to me. He came close, taking my hand as he 
did so, and looking at me with a pleasant smile. 



78 

said, "Markevian called me hither to tell you 
anything within the scope of my knowledge 
which you might want to know." I thanked 
him for the kindness evinced on his part as 
well as the one whom he called Markevian, 
whose name I had not before heard. On his 
saying he had been called, a thought came to 
me that this was strange. "When did Marke- 
vian call him?" I had not known of his speak- 
ing to any one since he came to me save the 
mission group, heretofore mentioned. And I 
said to him: "I am curious to know how my 
late kind attendant conveyed this request to 
you who seemed to me to be quite distant at 
the time." At this he smiled, and said: "I 
will tell you this, and some other things in de- 
tail that will facilitate your understanding of 
spiritual matters. When we leave a primary 
plane and reach our place of adaptation in 
spiritual life, we are each given anew single 
name, without titles or initials to indicate posi- 
tion or rank, and a new language, the language 
in use in all the heavenly planes. It is a sign 
as well as an oral language. Markevian used 
the sign to me, at a distance that you would 
call about seventy-five miles. You can have as 
yet no correct conception of the part that eye- 
sight plays in connection with our sign lan- 
guage. Here the range of vision is not circum- 
scribed as with earthly people. 1 can hold my 
hand down in a natural way, moving only the 



70 

lingers, and communicate with one a distance 
away equal to a hundred miles by earthly measr 
urement. Doubtless Markevian held converse 
with several others besides you during the time 
he was with you. Our sense of hearing is very 
acute, and sound waves travel long distances. 
Then, there is another channel for communica- 
tion always open to us, namely that of mental 
impressions ; we can, under all circumstances, 
apprise each other of our desires by means of 
impressions, which register themselves in our 
mental chambers as outward messages. An- 
gels are divided into classes or grades accord- 
ing to their adaptation in the heavenly planes ; 
then they are subdivided according to assign- 
ment to duty. Some are assigned to guardian- 
ship duties, which work appertains to the 
primary planes of different planets, and min- 
istrations to terrestrial people ; others are 
assigned to mission work among the planets of 
a single solar system — their duties are super- 
visory, and relate to guardians of terrestrial 
affairs ; then there are missioners whose care 
and ministrations relate to spiritual matters 
only in one or more spiritual solar systems. 
Each solar system, both in its physical and 
spiritual aspects, is assigned to the care of an 
archangel of the third or highest of the finite 
orders, except the pre-eminent council of three, 
composed of Michael, Gabriel and Eaphael, in 



80 

whose charge are matters which belong to the 
departments of justice, mercy, and love. From 
the council last named emanate all measures 
for ameliorations and promotions that are to 
be carried out by means of angelic ministry. 
This is not to say that the Most High, through 
His Spirit, does not act without recourse to 
these agencies. These are only his usual 
means. 

u Another helpful thing for you to know is, 
that everything physical has its counterpart in 
things spiritual. Both of these states of being 
are real, but Omnipotence has suspended an 
impenetrable veil between them, which no one 
may lift or rend with impunity. It is the bor- 
der-line between two conditions rather than 
a veil or obscuring substance. It is passed by 
a spirit the instant of emergence from the body 
at the time of dissolution or death. No ray of 
light may pass from the one to the other, ex- 
cept on extraordinary occasions, and then only 
for some wise and beneficent purpose. The 
fallen, evil beings are constantly striving to 
break through this dividing partition, that they 
may walk forth visibly into the physical world, 
but as yet have only met w 7 ith a very meager 
success. In your normal condition you could 
not behold me as you do now, neither could I 
see you except as you stand as a spirit. All 
finite spiritual beings have had their origin in 



81 

physical matter; we have no knowledge of 
any being merging into heavenly life that had 
not had a previous life germinating in primor- 
dial matter, and, in like manner, all God's 
creative works designed as places and adapta- 
tions for the extended life of those whom he 
chooses to have live foi his glory, are out- 
growths and emanations from primary physical 
creations and conditions. Hence, the earth's 
heavenly sphere, situated at all points about 
sixty miles above the earth's highest eleva- 
tions, bears a very perceptible resemblance to 
the latter in its conformation — excepting, of 
course, the one being a physical sphere and 
the other of a spiritual nature. This first 
heaven rests upon a sphere of incrassated at- 
mosphere of depth of about five miles, very 
translucent and of a density sufficient to sup- 
port on an undulating surface — forests, lakes, 
rivers, and vast flowery plains — everything 
of a terrestrial character that is pleasing to the 
eye and grand and beautiful, is here found with 
the pleasing characteristics greatly enhanced, 
the grand merged into the sublime, and the 
whole, in point of beauty, indescribable. 

I T pon this beautiful surface, on which dwell 
great hosts of happy human spirits, rests a 
spiritual atmosphere, verging upon a height of 
five miles and radiantly bright through the 

interception of the sun's spiritual rays which 
6 



82 

.accompany its physical rays on their way to 
the earth. Above this luminous sphere of at- 
mosphere is a height of thirty-five miles filled 
with air the same as that rilling the space for 
sixty miles or more below this first heaven. 
This sphere of air forms the earth's outer 
boundary. Beyond this is the permanent ether 
of solar space, and because of the earth's 
swift passage through this resisting medium 
the outer mile or more of air presents to the 
spirit eye an awe-inspiring scene of mountain- 
ous air-billows, the roar of which can be heard 
distinctly in the upper spiritual air. There is 
no analogy to this phenomena to be seen on the 
earth, unless one could witness a cyclone pass- 
ing over an ocean of water and in immediate 
contact with its disturbed surface, 

"Only such features of the physical earth as 
bear evidence of violence by internal forces, or 
the ravages of sin, are lacking in this heavenly 
sphere. There is no violence nor evidences of 
violence in all this region. 

"Here are gathered all spirits that escape 
from the earth and can go no higher. Notwith- 
standing the innumerable generations that 
have lived and died upon the earth, and the 
fact that nearly nine-tenths of all that survive 
rind an abiding-place on this sphere, yet it is 
not populous when looked at from this stand- 
point. 



83 

"Inhabited terrestrial planets are innumera- 
ble, and by the time they come tcf have intelli- 
gent beings as inhabitants, all of them are 
fitted with aerial resorts, as places of reception 
for those surviving beings who come into life 
on their respective physical planes — primary 
heavens, so to speak. 

"I have been describing to you the first 
heaven of the earth. It was to this sphere 
that Christ alluded when he said 'Blessed are 
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' 
He did not mean the physical earth. Those 
failing to reach this plane received their re- 
ward while living out their earth-life ; for God 
permits people to aggregate to themselves as 
much as they can of the things they value, and 
to extract from terrestrial conditions all of the 
pleasures and delights that are possible under 
the laws of physical life ; and so far as this is 
done without injury to one's fellow-beings it is 
harmless in the sense of being within the 
bounds and rights accorded by nature and its 
author from the beginning ; but such a course 
is thoroughly selfish, and a life-work has no 
merit when devoted to such acquisitions. It 
is rare, however, that one can spend a life in 
this way without incurring penalty through in- 
justice to others. Where it is done, such a one 
has received his reward. There was no merit 
in his work; his capacity and aspirations were 



84 

riot blighted and dwarfed by privation and 
want ; he has no denied rights to plead for res- 
titution ; hence the heavens have no place for 
him, and life goes out in such a case like a 
snuffed candle. If penalty attaches, he sinks 
down to some dark retributive plane in the 
depths of the earth, and there, at the expira- 
tion of sentence, his light goes out. 

'Must here I may digress enough to tell you in 
a general way of how extinguishment of life 
comes to those who sink down under penalty 
for sin. The chief and unabating factor in the 
punishment of the wicked is memory and the 
phantoms which rise from the dismal depths 
of the culprit's sin-burned and seared mind. 
Bat there are other most dreadful means of 
punishment. By a divine law, which governs 
in matters retributive, the authors of injustice 
and cruelty become subject to the power of 
their victims, so that a paralyzing fear seizes 
them at the approach of one whom they have 
wronged; and those who suffered as victims 
at their hands in earth-life, here become ag- 
gressive and retaliate with the utmost severity, 
repaying with interest greatly augmented, 
often charging their own loss of heaven to the 
account of those who abused them ; and where 
victims thus believe, there is no means of ex- 
cruciation they will not have recourse to. But 
I can give you no adequate idea of the horrible 



83 

plight many elegant ease-loving people of tb& 
world find themselves in when they arrive at 
the place of adaptation to their case, which is 
always where, in absolute helplessness, they, 
meet many of the victims of their injustice and 
cruelty. It is awful in the extreme. But it i# 
not everlasting. There comes a time, it may 
be almost infinite in duration, or, at least, ap- 
pear so to the finite mind, when the mercy of 
extinction begins to assert itself in the gradual 
fading of memory and in abating the intensity 
of fear, and in the wearing away of the acute- 
ness of pain ; then comes a condition of for- 
getfulness, wherein the normal mental pro- 
cesses weaken, so that only a semi-conscious-- 
ness remains, and upon this an atrophy of all 
emotions falls. From this state the next tran- 
sition is to that wherein there is no knowledge 
of the past or present surroundings, then ex- 
istence ceases and all is over. 

''The spiritual beings of this lower heaven 
are from the earth. They are as happy as they 
can be, as much so as their receptive capacities- 
will permit, yet they are amenable to many 
limitations which exert no power over those 
who attain to higher planes. They can not rise 
to the higher planes, but receive visits and 
helpful assistance from the planes above them. 
They are not assigned to guardian or mission 
duties of any kind; but, us they are able to. 



86 

see from their sphere spiritual conditions and 
things on the earth, it is open to them to render 
irapressional guidance to earthly people in the 
fiesh as far 2 s their power or influence goes ; and 
for successful and earnest work along this line, 
as a reward, many are fitted for and raised to 
higher planes. To those whom the Lord 
chooses to live for his glory he extends rewards 
for meritorious work, measuring meritorious- 
ness by wise, love-prompted effort, and not by 
the success attained ; such efforts making in- 
nate record upon their being, increasing power 
and adapting them to higher conditions, result- 
ing in attainments which cause their promotion 
— raising them from plane to plane, and higher 
and higher. 

"The second heaven is a spiritual sphere, 
about half the size of the earth, and revolving 
on a direct line between the earth and the sun, 
at a distance of about five hundred miles from 
the earth, so that if it were an opaque or ter- 
restrial body, it would place a continual eclipse 
upon the sun, so far as would appear to an ob- 
server standing upon the earth. It moves in 
exact line with the earth, and it may be that 
it is carried forward in its orbital line by a 
magnetic force of the earth Like all spiritual 
as well as physical spheres, its orbital track is 
traced through space of dense darkness. Its 
atmosphere takes up and reflects only the spir- 



itual rays of the sun. And although its illumi- 
nation transcends in brilliancy anything the 
natural human eye ever witnessed, yet it gives 
not a ray of its light to the space along its pas- 
sage-way. Here will be found all the varied 
scenery of the heaven below but greatly trans- 
cending it in beauty and sublimity. The celes- 
tial beings of this happy sphere are mostly 
from the earth, but as fewer limitations affect 
them, of their number many are selected and 
assigned to guardian service on primary planes, 
and it happens that many abide here who came 
into life on other planets. The gift of life 
comes to all chosen ones alike ; those who 
reach this happy sphere instead of the lower 
or first heaven, do so because of superior mer- 
itorious work, wrought out on the earth's pri- 
mary plane or achieved after having reached 
the first heaven. 

"The third heaven is a sphere about the size 
of the second, just now partially described, 
and revolving on the same direct line from the 
earth to the sun, as mentioned in regard to the 
second heaven, only at a distance of about one 
thousand miles from the earth. "What was a 
mere intimation on the primary plane, and 
only an entity with indications of form and 
purpose in the first heaven, and only an ap- 
proaching maturity with promise of great per- 
fection in the second heaven, is here seen am- 



88 

plilied and standing forth in perfect ional beau- 
ty and sublime maturity. 

4 'I can give you no adequate idea of the 
grandeur and sublime perfection to be wit- 
nessed on this sphere unless you understood 
our celestial language. The ratio of compari- 
son I have just given will apply in every con- 
ceivable way. 

' 'Including the primary, four planes of life 
distinctly belong to each planet. Beyond 
these, at distances varying materially, and 
sometimes with great chasms and gulfs of 
vacuity intervening, are what for illustration 
maybe called zones; these are innumerable, 
and most glorious ; and few of them have ever 
been visited by angels of the class assigned 
to guardian service. From these elysiums of 
blessedness they come to us for our good — 
lading us with unbounded munificence. We 
do not go to them ; the Lord gives us here all 
we have power to receive, when we have at- 
tained a nearer approach to maturity we will 
be able to rise higher ; meanwhile, we are 
happy and blest, for curiosity is not a trait of 
angel minds ; only the fallen ones are a prey 
to this disturbing faculty of unsatisfied minds. 

''Above the third heaven all limitations 
cease. The disabilities of the primary plane, 
and the diminishing limitations of the heavens 
below, can here no longer be traced. There 



remains only the happy consort of finite perfec- 
tion and Divinity." 

Here my attendant ceased, and turned to 
me with a look as though he would now an- 
swer any special question I wished to ask. In- 
stantly the unsettled and controversial question 
concerning the verbal inspiration of the Bible 
came to mind, and I said : "What you said to 
me a few moments ago about other planets 
being inhabited much after the manner of 
the earth, is not exactly in harmony with the 
statements found in the first chapter of our 
Bible, wherein God is said to have created the 
stars, or planets, as you call them, to 'rule the 
night, 7 — that is, to furnish light, or twilight for 
the earth. Please explain to me this seeming 
discrepancy, for I greatly desire to understand 
correctly concerning the unsettled question as 
to ihe verbal inspiration of our Scriptures; 
at the same time I want exceedingly much to 
see clearly and understanding^ the first 
heaven you have so kindly described to me in 
words." 

I had noticed, before finishing my request, 
that my attendant was in conversation with 
some one else by the movement of his fingers, 
although his arm hung in an easy, natural po- 
sition. On my ceasing to speak, he looked 
rather grave for a few seconds, and said : "To 
consider your last request first, I must tell you 



90 

that whether this can be granted or not de- 
pends very much upon yourself: first, as to 
your real motive, or what prompts your desire 
for this disclosure; and, second, whether or 
not your physical faculties and powers can be 
subdued and be forced into a sufficient state or 
passivity as to allow your spiritual senses or 
perceptions to have free play. Concerning the 
first difficulty, I do not know — would have to 
be advised from above ; of the latter, I think 
you can meet the exigencies of the case." 

At this point my attendant, Valarius, turned 
and greeted another angel who came softly to 
his side as he was speaking to me. After a 
short conversation in which the pasilaly was 
used, w 7 hich is a mellifluous language abounding 
in rhythmic cadences exceedingly sweet and 
musical to the ear, but which I could not un- 
derstand, he turned again to me and said : il I 
will see if your last request may be granted ; 
if so, some preparation and assistance will be 
necessar}% and after these matters have been 
arranged I will return ; meanwhile, here is 
Mahofta, who has been for a. great while in 
the guardian service, and will tell you all about 
the inspiration claimed for the instruments of 
writing to which you refer." I thanked him 
for his proffered service, and as I did so, he 
moved swiftly away, leaving me alone with 
Mahofta, my attendant for the time being. At 



91 

first glance I perceived he had a cast of coun- 
tenance which, while showing no distinct 
marks of age, was nevertheless suggestive of a. 
lineage of some ancient or mediaeval period of 
the past, as if he might have come into life 
during the early cycles of some planet when 
its human beings attained to great ages, as i& 
said to have been the case with our earth. 
There was a certain undefined air of seniority 
which evinced a well-rounded maturity in 
stores of knowledge and a long experience in 
spiritual life. I turned to him at once and re- 
peated my desire to learn correctly concerning 
the verbal inspiration of the Bible, in about, 
the same words I had used previously in 
speaking to Valarius. To this Mahofta ex- 
plained as follows: "The older part of the 
writings you refer to as the Bible are simply 
historical writings, and were originally in- 
scribed with no more of accuracy as to lan- 
guage and are no more truthful in their state- 
ments as to facts than ancient histories gener- 
ally ; and in the respects mentioned are very 
much inferior to more modern history, which 
has had to encounter a severe analytical criti- 
cism. Critics have indeed attacked these old 
writings fiercely, but the attacks came too late 
to expurgate them of error in statements as to 
historical facts and false assumptions as to 
doctrines and divine requirements. Evidence 



92 

that might have availed for correction and the 
elimination of fallacious elements had been 
lost — buried under the rubbish accumulations 
of the succeeding centuries. 

"These old Israeli lish records were kept, no 
doubt, by honest men, but their statements of 
facts were colored by prevailing popular beliefs 
of their days, which were often erroneous and 
in many instances wholly superstitious. Ef* 
feets were assigned to causes according to what 
was generally believed, and such correlations 
set forth as were most agreeable to the convic- 
tions of the few who assumed to have superior 
knowledge, some of whom arrogated to them- 
selves the distinction of holding open converse 
with God. To show what dangerous ground 
may be reached by such an arrogant belief, I 
need only cite you to one of the most noted of 
the ancient ones who figured during the period 
covered by these old records. He received a 
command, ostensibly from God, to make a 
burnt sacrifice of his son Isaac, and so little 
did he know of God, or his divine attributes, 
that he prepared to obey the command, and 
was only prevented by the timely interposition 
of an angel, who was the appointed guardian 
of the child. Even now, after the lapse of all 
these centuries, there are those who attempt 
to explain this event and remove the absurd- 
ity incidental to it by asserting that Abraham 



93 

was not mistaken nor misled by an evil power ; 
that God gave the command to burn the child, 
but that he did not intend its destruction but 
only used it as a means for trying its father's 
faith, thus making it appear that the Omnip- 
otent Creator of the universe requires to use 
stratagem and duplicity to find out the charac- 
teristics of men. He who discerns the intents 
and purposes of the heart and to whom noth- 
ing is covered or concealed, is thus brought to 
the necessity oi resorting to a trick in order to 
discover if Abraham would act in good faith. 
Of a like character to this is the event of God 
granting permission to Satan to destroy Job's 
property and children, and terribly afflict Job 
himself, for no apparent reason than that Satan 
might be convinced of Job's integrity. 

"Certain men, designated as prophets, who 
figured prominently in the different periods of 
the tribal and national life of the Israelites, as 
well as most of the common people, had a 
knowledge of God as the great creator of 
heaven and earth, but they knew little of his 
attributes. They had no definite or correct 
knowledge of the magnitude of the invisible 
evil powers that were ever arrayed against 
God, and unceasingly working for their own 
overthrow and destruction, and everything 
that transpired that arose above the very ordi- 
nary achievements of men were ascribed to 



94 

God ; even for many of the exceedingly crim- 
inal deeds which they did, and some of their 
most abominable practices, they had a ' thus 
sayeth the Lord ' as authority. Their God, in 
their conception of him, was a God of battles; 
he would array nation against nation in war, 
and by means of such instrumentalities often 
wrought great slaughters and inhuman butch- 
eries ; he would show great partiality to some 
and call them his chosen people, and be ex- 
ceedingly vengeful to others and order them 
exterminated — sometimes by his chosen ones, 
at other times his angels would be sent out as 
invisible fmissaries to destroy and lay them 
waste. Then he would become offended with 
his chosen people, and bring upon them their 
enemies to destroy or appropriate their prop- 
erty and carry them off into conditions of cap- 
tivity and servitude. Both individuals and 
nations were dealt with in this manner accord- 
ing to these old records of a so-called chosen 
people. A glance backward through the vista 
of centuries upon the history of these Old 
Testament tribes and nations raises the query 
if it would not have been better for them had 
they not arrogated to themselves the position 
of a chosen people. 

''They claimed to have explicit orders from 
their God, on certain occasions, to slay every- 
thing before them — men, women and children, 



95 

old and 3 r oung, even sucklings at the breast, 
also the dumb animals, and all things having 
life, of or belonging to those whom they ac- 
counted their enemies. 

4 'They saw nothing dishonoring and deroga- 
tory to the character of their God in ascribing 
to him such characteristics. It appeared not 
to them that such a being would be a monster, 
and could not be worshiped or held in rever- 
ence by any rational mind wherein a full legal 
sense of right and wrong had obtained a hold. 

"As an instance going to show the defective- 
ness of the knowledge which these people had 
of God — both the common people, their kings, 
and their prophets — I will remind you of the 
case of David ordering a census to be taken, 
presumably that he might know the military 
status of his kingdom. Here the record makes 
it appear that the Lord was displeased with 
the people, as a nation perhaps, and sought a 
w T ay to punish them ; that he accomplished 
this by moving David to order the numbering, 
and then sending a prophet to tell David of his 
displeasure, and to permit him, as king, to 
make a choice of the punishment which would 
be inflicted upon the nation. David made his 
choice, and the Lord sent an epidemic, of 
three days' duration, of such a virulent char- 
acter that seventy thousand people died. All 
these, thus ruthlessly destroyed, were presum- 



96 

ably of the common people, who had nothing 
to do with the census-taking — in fact, it may 
have worked a hardship to them. And in this 
ordeal the records show David, bad as he was, 
as having a finer sense of equity than their 
God, for in an act of confession and acknowl- 
edgment to the Lord he said the sin was his, 
and asked that the punishment fall upon him, 
and not upon the people who were innocent. 

"Another instance which occurs to me at 
this time, and which serves the same purpose 
as the one just before cited, is that of'Achan, 
who appropriated some property captured at 
the fall of a Canaanitish city, and, on being 
detected, w r as taken to a certain valley, to- 
gether with his sons and daughters, his sheep 
and cattle, draught-animals and the stolen 
articles, and all of them stoned and burned to 
death, Joshua ordering the punishment, and 
acting, as he thought, under God's immediate 
orders. That he did so think clearly shows 
his erroneous conception of God. Think of 
Christ, the only perfect revelation of God the 
world has ever had, consigning these children 
and dumb animals to death by stones and 
flame for the guilt of one over whom they had 
no control ! Such atrocious acts have always 
been instigated and carried out by bad men 
under the direction and promptings of demons. 

"Then, what is to be said of the source of in- 



97 

spiration that led the writer of Genesis to set 
forth that the stars were created as diminu- 
tive lights fixed in some way in the elemental 
space above the earth for the purpose of fur- 
nishing a twilight. In considering this subject 
in the light o' reason and the deductions of 
science, the mind comes to regard the Mosaic 
idea as bordering closely on the region of ab- 
surdity ; for it is readily seen that the adap- 
tiveness which characterizes all of God's 
creative work is very defective in this finish- 
ing touch in the world's completion. Some of 
these little lights were hung so high that their 
twinkling rays scarcely reach the earth at times 
when the atmospheric conditions are most fa- 
vorable ; and, if illumination had been the pur- 
pose in view, it is clear to any one that stronger 
and brighter lights, much less numerous, if 
practically placed, would have served the 
purpose better. Then, as a sample of inspira? 
tion, consider the second coming of Christ to 
reign on the earth as a king ; his first followers 
believed this, and expected his return in their 
day, and thousands of good people in every 
generation since have lived out their lifetime in 
expectation of this event ; and now, after the 
expiration of nearly nineteen centuries, great 
numbers are still waiting as did those of the 
first century. The thought is irrational that 
God, having omnipotent power and irffinite 



93 

•wisdom, should fail to make people understand 
correctly about this coming earthly kingdom 
if he intended setting up such a one, and in- 
tended to give a revelation concerning it. If 
the revelation had been intrusted to the weak- 
est angel in the Lord's service he would have 
-followed repetition with repetition until the 
devoted followers of the Lord were brought to 
understand the matter correctly. 

" Now, these instances are only cited, among 
many hundred that might be adduced, to show 
that these so-called verbally inspired writers 
only wrote what they believed, and in the 
main reflected the popular beliefs, if not of 
their nation, at least of their sect or school of 
thought. 

"A helpful guidance has been offered to hu- 
man beings all along through the ages, when 
deemed essential to their welfare, by impres- 
sions, not always, but most generally, through 
angelic agency ; and these impressions, when- 
ever understood to come in a manner trans- 
cending the ordinary capacity of the human 
mind, have always been ascribed to the Most 
High. And although the import of the impres- 
sion may have only applied to the case of a 
single individual, and emanated only from a 
guardian angel, as a friendly act, and in the 
angel's judgment helpful if heeded, If under- 
stood, it is straightway set down as oracular, 



99 

and direct from God, and applicable for all 
time to come. Then, an impression may have 
come from an evil source — been made by a 
rebel angel, and the intent and purpose of it 
may have been to work injury to the one im- 
pressed or some one else, yet, if it was believed 
to emanate from an invisible or superhuman 
source, it would be accredited to the Almighty, 
and its import, framed in defective human 
language, would take its place among the com- 
mands and precepts of an All-wise Creator. 

"It was not uncommon for rulers to inquire 
of the .Ljord, through their prophets, whether 
or not they should make war on some other 
nation, and receive an affirmative answer, and 
perhaps an assurance of victory. David no 
doubt received such answer and assurance be- 
fore he invaded the country of the Ammonites, 
where, after capturing their cities, to adopt the 
language of the so-called sacred record, 'he 
brought forth the people that were therein, 
and put them under saws, and under harrows 
of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them 
pass through the brick-kiln !' Few people, of 
the untold millions who have read this abbre- 
viated account, have had imaginations with 
sufficient energy to frame for their minds' re- 
view a competent picture of the horrors to 
which these few lines of record relate. By 
the peculiar inspiration accessible to men in 



100 

those days, the one who ordered these awful 
butcheries and inflicted such horrible cruelties 
on helpless captives was a man after God's 
own heart, and as far as these >said-to-be in- 
spired writers tell you to the contrary, these 
dreadful methods of slaughter were entirely 
agreeable to God, whence, they say, their in- 
spiration came. These same prophets make 
God say that he is a God of battles, and that 
vengeance is his. Elsewhere, among the 
later so-called inspired writers, one very cor- 
rectly says that wars come of the lusts and 
selfishness of men, and are abominable meth- 
ods in the eyes of the Most High. 

"The fact is, to be able to receive impres- 
sions at any and all times, as did the seers or 
prophets of old, one must be accustomed to in- 
terior discernment — that is, must constantly 
observe with care and close scrutiny the work- 
ings and variableness of one's own mind ; must 
devote much time to meditation and to periods 
of watchfulness and expectancy ; and when 
he has become habituated to this course, 
he becomes supersensitive to mental touches, 
and his receptiveness becomes perilously 
acute ; such a one is then comparable to a 
stringed musical instrument, which, after its 
strings receive sufficient tension to emit 
sounds, may be sw r ept by any and all kinds of 
things using sufficient force to cause them to 



101 

vibrate. It gives forth sounds without regard 
to the character of the agency producing the vi- 
bration. The only safeguard a prophet or any 
other person has in communing with the in* 
visible world, whether by impressions or other 
means of transmission of thougnt, is to have 
a fixed and well-grounded sense of right and 
w T rong innate to themselves, and critically try 
every impulse or impression by this standard \ 
it would follow, then, that if one's sense of 
good or evil was not faulty, but complete* 
and they gave forth nothing but what stood 
fully approved by this consciousness, then 
words said to be inspired might be received as 
coming from a good, if not a divine source* 
But this w^as not the rule with the old seers or 
prophets; it was sufficient for them that the 
message was superhuman, and comported with 
what seemed to them the proper thing at the 
time ; and the knowm attributes of God had 
little part, if any, in determining the source of 
the inspiration. 

"I'have cited enough to show that the inspi- 
ration which came to those old so-called ver- 
bally inspired men was on a level morally with 
the men themselves and the nation to which 
they belonged, and the characteristics of the 
age in which they lived, and the religious sys^ 
tern they and their people had framed and set 
up for themselves. And here I may explain* 



102 

tbat there is a religious implantation in human 
nature that is as natural and inherent in hu- 
man beings as the parental affection which 
prompts to care and nurture of offspring ; and 
this necessity for some form of adoration, 
which abides in nature, incessantly demands 
recognition and scope for exercise ; and in 
men's freedom to will and to do, God has al- 
ways permitted them to set up and maintain 
such religious systems as their intellectual 
rank and their peculiar environments made 
essential to them to satisfy this characteristic 
of human nature. 

'The tone is very much higher in the writ- 
ings of those men w T hose works compose what 
is called the New Testament, because these 
men were morally higher, and so had a finer 
sense of the attributes of God than the older 
writers. Both the earlier and the later writers 
allowed the doctrinal views in which they had 
been reared and the popular beliefs of their 
nation to color their said-to-be verbally in- 
spired writings very materially. 

"Now, all this is not an effort to set up 
grounds for saying that there is no such thing - 
as inspiration, for the contrary of this is true. 
For there is more inspiration to-day, both 
good and evil, than at any previous time in the 
world's history. Inspiration with good intent 
in all ages of the world has only been direc- 



103 

tory in its character, and has always, when> 
rightly understood, related to earthly affairs,, 
and been instructive to human beings as to 
right relations and how to treat each other; 
and in the main has been given by angelic in- 
strumentality. There is more need for inspi- 
rational guidance now than ever before, for 
there is twelve to fourteen hundred millions of 
people more on the earth to-day than ever ex- 
isted at any one time in its past history. An- 
gels in the guardian service have been multi- 
plied a thousandfold ; and it devolves upon 
them to direct and suggest impressionally 
whatever comes to them from the power above 
— whether by impression and directly from 
the Lord, or some angel in the supervisory 
service, or, in the absence of these, whatever 
in their own judgment will result in good 
and be beneficial to any and every one whom 
they can influence — to warn by presentiment 
of impending danger, and correct, whenever 
they can, the false and evil impressions of the 
rebel angels; but their ministrations must be- 
persuasive, not involving force, for people are 
free in all that appertains to earth-life, to make- 
the most of their opportunities according to 
their own conception of what is best or most 
pleasing to them. 

"The mistake that earthly people have 
made has been in regarding the Scriptures as 



104 

sacred writings and inspired by God word by 
word; and believing them derived fiom such 
a source and in such a manner, have come to 
regard them as oracles, and applicable to all 
times and ages. And although a small ele- 
ment of people readily admit that God did, in 
the days of these old prophets, inspire men 
mightily and with great frequency, by means 
of messages containing instructions sometimes 
for individual application and at other times 
general in character, yet, for some incompre- 
hensible reason he ceased, so they say, to 
further inspire or give guidance by that means. 
As this same little orthodox or esoteric body 
would have it, after the advent of Christ and 
after the close of his course of oral teaching, 
at intervals of eight, thirty, and down to sixty 
years after the crucifixion, a few persons were 
again verbally inspired to write. After this 
came another inspirational silence which is yet 
unbroken. These latter writings, in their dis- 
jointed and fragmentary character were at- 
tached as an addendum or codicil to the older 
writings, and thence came the Bible of which 
3 T ou make inquiry. 

"These precepts and sayings, which came by 
impressions t and not by oral language, and 
were given sometimes by good and ofttimes by 
evil angels, sometimes for good, but often for 
evil purposes, were at times entirely human 



105 

in their origin- merely emanations from the 
over- wrought minds of the prophets them- 
selves. These men were generally strong- 
willed and tenacious of purpose, and were 
little adapted, as far as receptiveness went, to 
serve as passive instruments for the transmis- 
sion of thought, espeeiall}' should the import 
of a message not accord with conclusions of 
their own. To show how impulsive they were 
at times one need only cite the case of Samuel, 
who delivered a message to Saul, the king, 
prefacing it with the usual 'thus saith the 
Lord/ which commanded him to attack Ara- 
alek and slay the men, women, infants, suck- 
lings and all animals, and when Saul did this, 
except in the case of Agag, the king, whom he 
brought back as a captive, it so incensed Sam- 
uel that he seized an axe and hewed Agag to 
pieces. This act alone shows the kind of 
prophet or seer he was. f 

"From the standpoint of those who had been 
and were still receiving a living by expounding 
these prophetic sayings, along with the sim- 
ilarly inspired writings which appeared after 
the time of Christ, it finally came to appear 
necessary that they should be crystallized into 
an oracular form and presented to the people as 
the great ultimatum of the Most High, upon 
the acceptance and obedience to which hung 
everlasting life and the glories of heaven, or, 



106 

if not believed and lived up to, then hell and 
eternal torments. Only by closing the inspira- 
tional channel for the transmission of thought, 
or by declaring it closed, and by innumerable 
sophistries proving or trying to prove it to be 
closed, could stability be gained for the founda- 
tions upon which the great ecclesiastical struc- 
tures have been reared that have furnished 
ease and the luxuries of life to such an im- 
mense aggregation of drones. The truth 
is, that in all that relates to spiritual destiny, 
God deals with each human spirit by law, and 
not by human or angelic proxies. Growing out 
of a mistake of Moses, the old work had fur- 
nished an unearned living to a crafty priest- 
hood, who were as numerous as they were 
greedy and indolent, before what is called the 
New Testament was added. 

"What I have said has, I have little doubt, 
raised in your mind the question. 'Why does 
God permit error to be perpetuated through 
long periods of time, as the case is if 3 r our 
statements are correct?' In answer to this, I 
will tell you that it is not essential what you 
believe about this book. It is a fair guide for 
the regulation of the affairs connected with 
earth-life, if precepts are cautiously selected, 
and then most of the examples and lifelong 
practices of those who figured in the record 
rigidly ignored. Especially is this necessary 



' 107 

with regard to the older part. When any of 
these writers, first or last, essay to tell you 
about a heaven and conditions in spiritual life,, 
and place the keys for entrance in your hand,. 
or tell you they are in the hands of the priest 
or preacher, they err ; and in all matters re- 
lating to spiritual life and conditions hereafter, 
they are generally erroneous from beginning 
to end. Salvation, or the more proper term,, 
/spiritual life/ is not by faith in any book, any 
name, or being whatsoever ; it is by law. The 
good or evil principle that has an abiding- 
place in and dominates your conscience, that 
you are pleased with, and in obedience to 
which you have pleasure, will determine 
your destiny as regards spiritual life, and not 
this book or what it contains in writing. What- 
ever is found in it that apprises your con- 
sciousness of the presence within of a good 
principle, and presents to the mind the prime 
necessity of rendering obedience to and living 
in harmony with this principle, that much is 
good and valuable to such a one, and the same 
may be said of any other writing similarly 
effective. God intended people to be free in 
all that pertains to earth-life, and he rigidly 
respects their freedom. One apparent reason 
for this is because vast numbers will never 
reach a higher plane ; are not fitted in their 
nature for any higher life than that to be had 



108 

on the earth plane ; therefore they may make 
choice of the means and appliances accessible, 
and use them as they will, for good or evil. 
All may see that wicked and evilly in- 
clined people are not restrained, except as 
men, in their freedom, formulate and apply 
restraints. And this freedom to will and to 
do explains why evil angels, with so little 
hindrance, prosecute and carry into effect their 
wicked designs. The calamitous happenings, 
the sufferings, war, strife and contentions, and 
the constant failures in enterprises, both pub- 
lic and private, should furnish ample evidence 
to all rational minds that God does not rule in 
the affairs of men in any temporal sense of 
directing their course, as in constraining them 
to do or restraining them from doing that which 
accords with their wills and purposes. Neither 
does God provide or secure righteous laws for 
people to live under, but leaves them to form- 
ulate and establish such systems of privileges, 
restraints and penalties as they may deem best 
for themselves, and leaves the. form of gov- 
ernment entirely to those to be governed, and 
it may be equitable or unjust and tyrannical 
at their option. Paul, one of the supposed 
inspired writers, set forth that law was estab- 
lished by God and its officers were his ap- 
pointees ; not long after this annunciation 
Nero, one of God's appointees, according to his 



109 

idea, ordered his head taken off, for no just 
cause whatever. If Paul could have lived, 
after his experience with Nero, he would un- 
doubtedly have renounced his theory with re- 
gard to law. 

"The earth is subserving precisely the pur- 
pose for which it was created ; and, as a hab- 
itation and place for the generation of life — a 
hothouse, as it were, wherein germination 
takes place— God has girded it about with laws, 
good in their purpose, but as inflexible and 
rigid as iron, and this system is called nature, 
or natural laws, and under their rule there is 
no mercy. Good is conserved and nurtured 
and evil destroyed, all depending on the acts 
and courses pursued by people. Over this 
absolute system the Lord maintains a means 
of relief for the weak, and in this service an- 
gels are engaged to-day. Not that the weak 
are always protected from the strong and the 
cruel, for this could not be done in very many 
cases without having recourse to force supe- 
rior to the will of the one disposed to practice 
cruelty ; but while the torturer may not be re- 
strained in his acts and efforts to inflict excru- 
ciation upon a helpless victim, we can and do 
intervene by obtunding by paralyzing touch 
the nerve-centers of the innocent sufferer, and 
thus defeat the purpose but not the guilt of the 
wicked evil-doer. 



110 

4 'The book inquired about is the work of 
men ; but in admixture with error it contains 
an abundance of truth, and truth is divine in 
essence no matter where found or to what it 
relates. Men may and do utter and act in ac- 
cordance with truth without the aid of any 
inspiration whatever. Many of the valuable 
precepts of the Bible are only the utterauces 
of men, and born of their knowledge, without 
the aid of inspiration at all. Where it is ben- 
eficial in any way, it is a good book to those 
benefited ; but it has stood as authority for evil 
practices, some of the gravest kind ; it has fur- 
nished examples of wicked lives and caused 
tli em to be imitated by setting forth that such 
•evil men were approved of God. Enslave- 
ments of human beings have been effected and 
maintained under its sanction. The parceling 
out of the surface of the earth and holding 
the same as private property began first to 
be practiced about the middle of the period 
covered by these old records which constitute 
the Old Testament. And this trade in land, 
thus early began, has been the basis of the 
affluence which has effeminated, debauched 
the minds, and destroyed the simplicity of life 
of all those who have ever reaped profit in this 
field. As compared with legitimate trade it is 
analogous to dealing in stolen goods. Being 
^rong in principle, from the first it has acted 



Ill 

as a scourge, filling the world with contention 
and discontent and courts with litigation, and 
a very large share of criminal adjudications 
relate to crimes traceable directly or indirectly 
to rent-paying and ownership in land. If sin 
could be personified and spoken of as an ob- 
ject or a single entity, it should be designated 
as ' Property in Land/ It has demoralized 
and rendered worthless, as to individual labor, 
and dangerous as examples, the lives of vast 
numbers who have and do obtain a dishonest 
living by means of rent exacted for the use of 
land ; and millions upon millions have been 
imbrutalized and brought to degradation and 
the most abject conditions through the poverty 
incident to rent-paying and being denied the 
right to a place on the earth except at the will 
and on the terms of its owners. By means 
of vicious adjudications, obtained under the 
dictum of power growing out of the nefarious 
traffic in land, property rights have been 
established as superior to human rights. The 
New Testament justifies the condition of serv- 
itude of one class to another by commanding 
servants to obey their masters. 

"In conclusion, the Bible, like five or six 
other batches of so-called sacred writings upon 
which religious systems have been reared, and 
all other works of men, neither helps nor hin- 
ders the working out in due season of all of 



1:12 

God's purposes. God governs by inexorable 
laws which admit of no variableness or shadow 
of turning.' ' 

Here Mahofta ceased speaking, and turning 
about, seemed to be scanning the great reaches 
of space around to see what objects were 
within the range of vision, and this attitude 
relieved me from the strain of close attention 
which I had given his discourse, and I also 
turned to observe other things. At a glance I 
perceived that the elevation of our standpoint 
was much greater than it had been before, and 
1 had not observed the rising at all, so closely 
riveted had been my attention to the matter 
Mahofta was explaining, and so easily and 
gradually had the little incrassation on which 
we stood floated upward. Our position now 
was scarcely a dozen miles below the translu- 
cent vaulting directly beneath the plane of the 
spirit sphere, and half this distance or less 
below the guardian-angel sphere, which is 
nothing more than a perfect sphere of common 
air, of a depth of rive miles or less, which in- 
tervenes at all points between the spirit sphere, 
or first heaven, and the earth. The distinguish- 
ing features of this sphere are that there floats 
in its currents and eddies myriads of miniature 
incrassated islands, and these consist of noth- 
ing but the common air, in area large or small, 
being drawn together — thickened or condensed 



113 

— having its molecules rendered stationary in- 
stead of being migratory. This is accomp- 
lished by a law or laws operative to guardian 
angels and rebel angels too, for these latter 
have floating habitations for themselves placed 
high above the earth at times. These islands 
of the guardian-angel sphere are in area from 
a few yards in diameter to two or more hun- 
dred feet, and in shape are mostly oblate or 
prolate spheroids, with a convex surface always 
upward. Upon these millions of ange^ abide 
during their intervals of watching and waiting. 
From these points their impression-lines are 
anchored which extend to their charges below. 
Here they receive their directory impressions 
from the higher powers, and may communi- 
cate at will with the happy spirits of the 
sphere above. From these floating lookouts 
they plunge into the great, dark depths below, 
and travel at a speed far exceeding that of a 
bullet leaving the muzzle of a rifle, to protect 
and shield their charges. Above this sphere 
rebel angels may not pass. 

Several times during Mahofta's expositions 
concerning the Bible I noticed the ascent and 
descent of angels, but they had been distant, or 
appeared so to me, and I had not given thought 
to such subjects — and here I will mention that 
one requires to be in an abnormal condition to 

discern anv spiritual object, and an angel must 

8 



114 

pass into a like state in order to see physical 
objects ; they see human beings in their spir- 
itual aspect as clearly as one in a normal con- 
dition would view a physical abject in a bright 
light. For angels to make themselves visible 
to a human being they must bring the indi- 
vidual into the requisite condition or material- 
ize themselves, and this latter requires great 
skill to be well done, and when the visible 
condition is attained, it must be maintained 
with the utmost skill and carefulness during a 
sufficiency of time or the appearance will be 
in flashes, that is, apparitional and unsatis- 
factory. Stories of ghostly and other singular 
appearances have often had some basis of 
truth as to the phenomena growing out of the 
bungling efforts of rebel angels or devils to 
render themselves visible under the law above 
referred to as a possibility under the highest 
angelic skill. The chief desire actuating all 
the fallen hosts is to be able to permanently 
materialize themselves and step forth visibly 
into the physical world, and then defy the 
natural laws which dispose of physical matter, 
and a host of earthly people are lending their 
magnetic aid to these experiments. Should 
they ultimately succeed they might rid the 
earth of flesh and blood life, or they might do 
what would be worse — some awful thoughts 
can invade the mind while scanning the possi- 



115 

bilities in this connection unless the bare arm 
of Omnipotence intervenes. 

Mahofta, after conversing for some little 
time, apparently with different comrades, and 
most of them remote, as I noticed at one time 
he was using the sign language and at another 
time the impressional method, came to my 
side and placed his hand on my head and 
pointed downward, and almost instantly every- 
where within my visional range became greatly 
illuminated, and ascending near our stand- 
point I observed three beautiful beings, which 
I quickly understood to be a guardian angel 
with an assistant conveying a released spirit 
up to the first heaven. In their ascent they ap- 
proached quite near, and on a salutation from 
Mahofta, came to a pause for a moment or so. 
The group was a most interesting one ; be- 
tween the two angels, who had extended their 
arms and clasped hands, hung a most trans- 
cendently beautiful spirit of a woman who had 
died but a few moments before. Her form had 
been covered with a long robe of surpassing 
whiteness, pendent from the neck, and by a 
peculiar fold flowing sleeves had been formed 
which expanded down to the hand, the same 
as worn by the angels themselves. Her arms 
had been placed over the two extended arms of 
the angels and hung as limp as if she had no 
strength whatever. Radiantly beautiful, yet 
she presented the appearance of being weighed 



116 

down by a mighty weariness. « When Mahof ta 
addressed her with congratulations on her 
escape from the hard lines that had been hers 
in earth-life, she merely looked at him with a 
most grateful expression of countenance, but 
did not attempt to make any reply, and they 
passed on, and as they did so Mali of ta went on 
to say hers had been a life of toil, hardship, 
and privation sufficient not only to destroy the 
body but, if such thing was possible, to perma- 
nently impair the capabilities of her spirit, 
but he thanked the Lord that it was not pos- 
sible. Then turning and looking me full in the 
face, a perfect glow of ecstasy resting upon his 
handsome features and expressive countenance, 
said with impassioned emphasis: "Oh, the in- 
finite wisdom, mercy, and love of God! It 
would be impossible for me to give you an ad- 
equate idea of the happiness in store for that 
poor, weary spirit who passed on a moment 
ago. Hosts of happy spirits will be in waiting 
for her. Her guardian will be relieved of his 
charge, and she will be borne along in their 
arms and floated in their midst from one happy 
surprise to another, and from one beautiful 
place to another more beautiful, till the time 
to worship the Most High and his adorable 
Son shall arrive, when the very spiritual at- 
mosphere will resound with music, and all 
heavenly things conspire to praise God; then, 
in the midst of worshiping throngs, she will 



m 

fall to her knees and learn for the first time 
what worshiping in spirit means; then a blissful 
happiness will come upon her with a permeat- 
ing power that you will not understand unless 
I say as a storm ! Then will the first elixivia- 
fion, bearing exuberant life, be given, and she 
will be strong. Then will soul- worship — the 
shout, the heavenly sweet, unsuppressed trem- 
ulous shout, spring spontaneously from the 
bliss-riven heart, and be answered by shouts 
from the joyous spirits assembled, and be 
echoed and re-echoed from throngs here and 
throngs there, until the acute spirit ear can 
detect nought save shout answering shout in 
an ever-blending symphony of rhythmic 
heavenly harmony — a veritable wilderness of 
sound vibrant with the sweet notes of heart- 
converse. 

''Then it may be that Christ will meet her at 
the entrance to the spirit sphere, and in that 
event what I have said will fall infinitely short 
of giving a correct idea of the rapturous and 
ecstatic scenes, for the Lord loves to dispense 
felicitous glory without measure to poor spirits 
like this one who never before had a taste of 
joyous life. And what may be in store for her 
in the second, or it may be the third heaven, I 
will not try to tell you, for I could not make 
you understand it unless you were familiar 
with our heavenly language." 

Then Mahofta related an incident or two in 



118 

the life-history of this poor, weary spirit, tj 
the effect that in the early years of her earth- 
life she had fallen into the clutches of a coarse, 
brutal, drunken husband, who had often beaten 
and otherwise cruelly abused her ; that she had 
borne all this and at the same time had pro- 
vided, as best she could, for several small chil- 
dren, and in addition, had assisted and cared 
for an invalid mother as far as she could; hoiB 
at times she became greatly despondent, and 
would doubt that there was a God who re4 
garded the sufferings of human beings ; he 
himself had been called to the aid of her guarl 
dian at one time in quieting her drunken hus- 
band who was intent upon killing her, and this 
they wanted to prevent because of the children. 
But for this consideration her release would 
have been allowed sooner, for his will and pur- 
pose had been fully set for her destruction 
several times and was only frustrated bv ail 
gelic interposition; he was therefore as guilty 
of murder as if her life had been taken. 

Seeing I was much affected by what I had 
seen and his relation connected therewith, Ma 
hofta said: " Would you like to have a gland 
at the home she has just left ? There is an ojj 
erative law in visional perception by whic 
such a view can be had at times. I will see. 1 
Placing his hand upon my head as before, ani 
pointing with the other, told me to look steadiM 1 
in that direction, and in a moment or so ther 



liere 

I 



119 

appeared, as if but a few yards away, an old one- 
room house with a shed attachment, and on a 
rude couch in one corner of the room lay the 
dead body of a very old-looking woman, whose 
poor, pinched features exhibited in every line 
marks of privation and hardship. On a stool 
beside penury's substitute for a bed sat the 
besotted and now bereft husband, contemplat- 
ing, with sullen silence and without a tear, the 
poor body he had so often and so brutally 
abused. I could hardly realize that the young- 
looking and radiantly beautiful being I had seen 
on her way to the glories of celestial life, had 
emerged from that lifeless old body, and had 
spent twoscore or more years in the wretched 
poverty here depicted. A grown-up daughter 
moved about the room, and two or three 
younger children were outside the door crying.. 
An old, and, apparently poor, neighboring wo* 
man had heard the cries of the children and 
had called to see what was the cause — then 
the vision faded away. Then Mahofta called 
my attention to an ascending couple and said r 
"Here is one furnishing a contrast to the one 
just gone. See how quickly he has acquired 
strength." They came close by and Mahofta 
saluted them, and each returned the salutation 
gracefully and moved on, the spirit of the one 
but a few moments out of the body seeming as 
able to traverse aerial space as his guardian. 
When they had gone I asked concerning his- 



120 

career in earth-life, and was told that during 
all his life he had been engaged in relief work, 
up to and including all his time and means. 
Mahofta thought that on reaching the spiritual 
sphere he would be given over to other guides 
and pass on to the second or third heaven, and 
that likely he would be appointed to guardian 
service as soon as he became sufficiently famil- 
iar with spiritual affairs. While my attendant 
was yet speaking, a guardian came to his side 
with the spirit of a little child in his arms, and 
while he and Mahofta conversed for a moment, 
the little thing looked with a pleased smile at 
his handsome face and toyed lovingly with 
some little villous or flossy appearing pendent 
which was attached about the neck of his daz- 
zling white robe. Digressively, I here may re- 
mark that while the foregoing incidents were 
being observed, and, in fact, almost incessantly, 
angels of the general protective service were 
seen ascending and descending to and from the 
earth. And quite frequently rebel angels, dis- 
tinguishable at a distance mainly by the dingy, 
dark color of their robes and the absence of the 
aura of brightness, were observed at great alti- 
tudes scanning the guardian sphere, apparently 
intent on ascertaining the disposition of the 
protective guard in their region. 

When the guardian with the infant spirit had 
gone, I turned to my guide and said, "I would 
so much like to see the home of that infant 



121 

spirit.'" To which Mahofta replied: "I ex- 
pect you can; in connection with your desire, 
if it is sympathetic and not merely curious, 
exercise your will firmly and attentively and 
wait alert in watchfulness, and I will help you 
if need be. 1 ' I did as directed, and in a mo- 
ment or so a scene appeared, apparently but 
a few feet away, and as if one were looking 
into an apartment through a door or window, 
and distinctly in view came a cradle, or child's 
crib, in which lay the little w r hite, clay-like 
body with the mother bending over it and sob- 
bing as if heartbroken, and at her side, but 
less distinctly, the father appeared trying to 
console the mother. The view was but mo- 
mentary, vanishing in an instant ; and as I 
turned and looked in the face of Mahofta, he 
smiled and said, "Very well for the first effort 
— a little weak yet." 

He then remarked, "I see approaching what 
will interest you, I am sure. A mother being 
brought to meet her child. This does not occur 
often, but is allowed in certain cases" — point- 
ing upward as he closed the sentence, and on 
looking in the direction indicated, I beheld a 
beautiful spirit, with her hands resting upon 
the arms of two angels, rapidly descending in 
a line that would pass near our standpoint ; 
and while gazing intently at the descending 
figures, Mahofta touched me and pointed down- 
ward, and there, as swiftly ascending, came a 



122 

guardian angel guiding the spirit of a young- 
girl, the daughter of the descending mother. 
They met a little below our standpoint, the 
child spirit being rapturously clasped in the 
arms of the now glorified mother. The ascent 
was immediately began, but proceeded slowly, 
the two spirits and their angel guides being en- 
gaged attentively in a sweet converse. Al- 
though they passed quite near, so intently were 
they interested in the circumstance of the meet- 
ing between earth and heaven, that they seemed 
not to see us, and Mahofta, although observing 
them with a happy smile on his handsome face, 
offered no salute, and on they went ; the scene 
being to my mind the most beautiful and 
heaven-like that I had ever witnessed. 

After this group had gone, Mahofta glanced 
around, gazing intently for a moment at sev- 
eral distant figures, and, turning to me, said : 
"As I see nothing as yet of Yalarius return- 
ing, I will tell you about any matter you may 
yet wish to make inquiry of, if I understand the 
subject myself, but you need not be surprised 
if I fail ; queries can arise in finite minds that 
for solution lead to great heights and depths 
beyond their comprehension." I then made 
mention that in the New Testament Christ is 
represented as saying, "He that believeth on 
me hath eternal life." And then said, "A 
fair inference here is, as between cause and 
effect, that the fact of believing furnished the 



123 

grounds or basis for the giving of eternal life, 
and to so understand this saying is equivalent 
to saying that salvation is by faith, and this 
puts it in c jnrlict with your remark a while ago 
that salvation was by law. To this Mahof ta 
replied as follows : "This passage belongs to 
a class of sayings which are numerous in both 
Testaments, in which there is an unpropitious 
selection of words — words which fail to con- 
vey the precise sense or idea in the mind of the 
speaker or writer. It is this special feature 
that gives rise to much of the confusion which 
seems to be a characteristic of all such writ- 
ings. The apostle who heard Christ's language 
may not have caught the precise sense he in- 
tended his words to convey ; there are instances 
mentioned in these records where the apos- 
tles were said not to have understood their 
Master. Then, again, the writing of these gos- 
pel sketches was greatly deferred ; the Apostle 
John, from whose account you get your quota- 
tion, wrote about sixty years after the cruci- 
fixion, after he had become a very old man. 
Failing memory might have caused him to ad- 
mit error to his record ; or, erroneous as it is, 
it might have been his conscientious belief. 
If it could be substantiated that John held to 
the doctrine that salvation is by faith, it would 
not establish the truth of such a belief. He 
was as liable to error as other human beings. 
The inference is clear that he did not regard 



124 

the writing of his version of the gospel as of 
much importance in the matter of salvation, or 
he would not have allowed nearly two genera- 
tions of people to pass away before he made 
up his mind to write. The want of continuity 
in his sketch of the life and sayings of Christ 
Conveys to one's mind a sense of rambling 
thought ; reminding one of the defects of age, 
especially of that period after a retrogression 
takes place in the trend of thought, when the 
individual turns to the contemplation of scenes 
and incidents of early life. These features are 
sufficiently numerous and apparent to stamp 
his whole version as a reminiscence, indulged 
in more as memoranda or as an agreeable mode 
of self-reminder than for a particular puipose 
or as a profound duty. At his death, or pos- 
sibly before, these sketches fell into the hands 
of those interested in setting up a religious 
system to afford them a support without other 
employment, as had been the case with the old 
priesthood under first Testament, so-called, 
and by them came their authentication and the 
inspirational attribute which yet attaches; but 
the main reason for regarding such writings 
to-day as having been divinely inspired is the 
fact that they form the foundation for a huge 
ecclesiastic business; and but for mutual jeal- 
ousies this latter-day priesthood might sink 
their differences and come together as the 



125 

monster trust or combine of the world's 
history. 

"There is no possible harmony between these 
fragmentary writings of different persons, at 
different times, and under greatly varied cir- 
cumstances. Of everlasting life, or eternal 
life, angels know nothing apart from immor- 
tality, which is an attribute of God only. An- 
gels in the guardian service know that spiritual 
life is the gift of God, having received it at his 
bauds, or what is equivalent to the same, by 
processes of natural law which he created to 
effect his will in this regard, so that to one to 
whom spiritual life has accrued, at the disinte- 
gration of the physical body comes power suffi- 
cient to enable the spirit to acquire a spiritual 
clothing instead of the physical suit now fallen 
off and to rise to the spiritual sphere. This 
much constitutes the gift, much more than this 
accrues to a spiritual being, but it comes as a 
reward for meritorious service. The gift is 
a foothold in spiritual life, and access to its 
possibilities, in some respects bearing analogy 
to the start in earth-life; it is not immortality. 
It can be eternal, if God maintains such life 
throughout an eternity — it is not inherent in 
either men or angels. 

"The word 'salvation,' to which you allude, is 
a misapplied term; its primary meaning is de- 
liverance from eternal misery. There is no 
eternal misery : there is eternal death — all 



126 

deaths are eternal, whether of the body or the 
spirit. I used the term properly qualified, 
namely, appointed to spiritual life, and said 
this was by law, and this statement is correct, 
"because God is just and merciful — is a God of 
love and not of vengeance ; therefore the com- 
mon expression of salvation by faith and eter- 
nal torment for the unbelieving is a monstrous 
doctrine and can not be true. Many who ac- 
cept this doctrine tacitly have never considered 
the frightful injustice that would naturally 
proceed from it as a sequence. I will mention 
only one phase as being amply sufficient to 
satisfy any rational mind of its falsity. Take a 
Mohammedan child — it comes into life under 
the action of natural law, is nurtured and pro- 
tected by its parents according to nature's pro- 
vision; its parents believe in the Mohammedan 
faith, and when their child comes to the age 
•of understanding they faithfully imbue its 
young mind with their own belief, and it grows 
up under Mohammedan influences, and on 
reaching the age of discretion and judgment is 
a staunch Mohammedan, knowing nothing of 
Christ except possibly as a hearsay deity whom 
its parents and friends regarded as an impostor, 
and with a hereditary predisposition towards 
its parents' religion. Now, if salvation is by 
faith, and eternal punishment as the lot of the 
unbelieving be true, what chance has God per- 
mitted this child to have to escape eternal tor- 



127 

merit? According to this orthodox view nat- 
ural law and the instincts maintained by nature 
have all conspired to work its damnation ; and 
these laws, which were intended to be effectual 
for good, and the provisions of nature, as man- 
ifested in the affection and solicitude of parents 
for the welfare of their children, have all been 
perverted and prostituted to the service of Sa- 
tan in peopling hell ; and this, as a logical se- 
quence of such a doctrine, can not be covered 
or glossed over by any amount of pulpit soph- 
istry. No, no; it is not true; it is false — 
false in every point and feature. It is an abom- 
inable doctrine; as much so as was the belief 
which led to the practices of the ancient Is- 
raelites who burnt their children as sacrifices 
in the consuming arms of Moloch. 

"Christ is God's remedy for sin; he was 
raised up as a deliverer — not as a means to be 
used by any one wishing to be saved, and ac- 
cessible to and to be applied by such individual. 
Christ saves, rescues, delivers. That he might 
do this effectually, a divine nature was im- 
parted at the incipient period of his germ-life; 
and becoming thus eligible and able to receive 
the gift, immortality — the power of life within 
himself — was transmitted ; and this gave the 
power to rescue and raise up to spiritual life 
all whom the Omnipotent Father might choose 
to have live for his glory. This choice is with 
God, not with the human being nor at the be- 



128 

hest of any priest or prelate. The will of the 
Father is executed by Christ, and all the an- 
gelic hosts are his instruments. He saves by 
divine power, directed and applied by infinite 
wisdom, and not by appeasing an angry God 
by an excruciating death — the innocent suffer- 
ing for the guilty, as some would say. God is 
not angry and has not been so; and Christ, 
having come into life clothed with flesh and 
blood, death in some form or other was a 
necessity to him under natural law ; and all 
life, except the infinite source of life, has come 
this way through blood as the primordial ele- 
ment. If the Mohammedan child was of the 
elect Christ's power to save would avail as 
much for it as a Mohammedan as if it had been 
reared by Christian parents, and had been 
taught the Christian faith, as far as its appoint- 
ment to spiritual life would be concerned. It 
might experience loss by reason of not hav- 
ing meritorious work, but recovery could be 
had from this defect. 

"Now I will explain, as far as finite minds 
can comprehend it, what election means : When 
one turns from wicked ways and acts to those 
that are good it is not because there has been 
imparted any phase of character not before 
possessed; it is only an awakening, or coming 
to a consciousness of a good principle within, 
and that innately there is a heart-opposition to 
the course previously pursued, and then a de- 



129 

termination is reached to henceforth render 
obedience to this new impelling force within. 
The dominant principle, or inherent inclination 
toward rectitude, had existed from the first 
pulsations of incipient life. 

"A human being- receives life no more under 
a special act of God than does the pig or other 
animals of the lower orders. Law for the 
transmission of life was established at the be- 
ginning and placed within the power and made 
operative to all things having life, animate and 
inanimate, according to their order and endow- 
ments by nature, to multiply and bring forth 
after their kind. Good does not come from an 
evil source; pure water can not be obtained 
from a polluted fountain; the nature of a seed 
can not be changed; an acorn will not produce 
an apple; figs may not be gathered from this- 
tles ; neither will piety in offspring result as a 
natural heritage of a wicked parentage. By 
the act of parental transmission the seed char- 
acteristics are as unalterably fixed in the in- 
cipient germ-life of human beings as are the 
peculiar productive powers and limitations in 
plant seed. This being immutably so, to the 
Infinite One, who sees the end of all things 
from the beginning, the dominant principle in 
germ-life is disclosed, as also the life-trend of 
each particular germ, together with its inca- 
pabilities and potentialities. And to those in 
whom good predominates as a finality, comes 

9 



130 

the appointment of guardians and other essen- 
tial acts to change habits of thought, quicken 
pious aspirations, alter environment, nurture 
and cause the growth and conquest, by the in- 
hering good principle, of the entire being, and 
the ultimate elimination of all evil tendencies. 
This is all the election there is that is known 
or discoverable to finite beings enjoying an- 
gelic life." 

As Mahofta closed his explanation of elec- 
tion, and ceased speaking, I introduced the 
subject of prophecy, and upon this theme he 
had this to say: "Men are beings of fore- 
thought, in a finite sense, and are prone to look 
ahead; the human mind instinctively peers 
into the future to discover, if possible, what of 
good or evil there is in store. 

"Prophecy may be divided into two classes, 
one of which, for the sake of distinction, can 
be called prediction, and which is nothing more 
than a conclusion arrived at through processes 
of reasoning — a logical sequence. When the 
premises are not merely postulated but abso- 
lutely correct, and the deductions fairly drawn, 
predictions have often been of value in the 
affairs of the world, and especially so in dis- 
suading from courses of action inimical in ul- 
timate results ; but they can not be relied on 
with any degree of certainty, because in setting 
forth what will be or take place in the future, 
the present status and courses of action are 



181 

taken as the premises, and presumed to con- 
tinue till the conditions presaged are realized 
r fulfilled ; and because no allowance is or 
an be made for the possible departure from 
ourse or divergence from what originally con- 
tituted the premises. To avoid error from 
this source would require foreknowledge, which 
is a divine attribute, and not enumerated among 
the endowments of the finite mind. Because 
of this variable element this method of guid- 
ance is of little value.* 

"The other class, usually referred to as divine 
prophecy, and mostly couched in symbolic 
language, pervaded with mystic allusions and 
phrases of hidden import and general vague- 
ness of character, is entirely worthless to hu- 
manity. It assumes a range of thought and 
to overlook a field of action cognizant only to 
the Infinite mind. Moving upon the self-evi- 
dent postulation that God has endowed human 
beings with freedom of action within the range 
of earth-life, it could serve no good purpose to 
them to be given glimpses of future conditions 
— mostly calamitous in character — in store for 
themselves or their posterity, unless the refer- 
ences to future conditions were so plain and 
easy to understand and so forceful in portent 
as to dissuade them from their course, in which 
case the matter or circumstance revealed would 
not be fulfilled, and therefore would not be a 
true prophecy at all, but only a delusion to 



132 

cause them to swerve from their intended 
course ; a deception which might lead to greater 
evil, unless divine restraint was interposed; 
and if people were subject to divine restrai 
and propulsion in acts which relate to earth-li: 
they could not be free, and if not free to choos 
then responsibility for choice of action coul 
not rest upon them but would lie with the s 
perior restraining or propulsive power, ai 
this would be subversive of what is known 
be God's purpose and invariable rule. 

"The mere utterances of thoughtful men. 
because extending beyond the bounds of com- 
mon thought, have often been characterized as 
the inspired words of infinite wisdom. Such 
is the case with the Apostle James in his all 
sion to rich men. He had seen the culmin 
tions of evil; that the nature of the sowing 
determined the character of the harvest; how 
it had come to individuals and nations, and 
the conclusion was easy to reach that the work 
at large would come to a like period of account 
ability ultimately, It is now clearly seen b 
angels and is easily discerned by though tfu 
men, that the culmination alluded to by Jam 
is approaching with rapid strides and is near 
hand. To angels in the guardian service, wh 
have a wide range of vision, and being fr 
from many limitations resting upon men, hav 
a clearer understanding of earthly conditio i 
than it is possible for men to have, it is clea 



133 

that the prime cause leading up to the calam- 
ities in store, is the parceling out of the earth's 
surface and the holding of it as private prop- 
erty by the few to the exclusion of the masses 
from their natural right of free access to the 
[source of their sustenance — and the setting up 
find legalizing of a rent-tax, which constitutes 
[the greatest sin seen from heaven, and appears 
[is a great beast ravaging the earth." 
I At the conclusion of the last sentence by 
! Mahofta, my attention was attracted to two 
• approaching angels who were yet some distance 
iiway. I asked my attendant who they were, 
lis I noticed he was in communication with 
|bhem. His answer was, "Valarius, accom- 
panied by Altheo;" and then added, "He says 
[your petition will be granted." My heart 
ounded with joy to think I was about to see 
lieaven ; and I wanted to see the abiding-place 
)f those who missed heaven also if it should 
ye possible. 

In a few moments Valarius and his com- 
)anion stood by us. Mahofta greeted Altheo 
fvarmly, made inquiry concerning one or two 
comrades, and waving his hand to us as a group, 
noved away. After Mahofta had left, Valarius 
:urned to me and said: "Your petition has 
3een granted, power will be given us sufficient 
:or the needs of the occasion, and Altheo, my 
companion, will accompany us. Now I must 
;ive you some instructions which you must 






134 



keep in mind and endeavor to obey until you 
return to your normal condition again. So far 
you have only had a partial view of spiritual 
things, because of seeing the physical at the 
same time, and the latter most plainly; now it 
will be reversed — you will yet be able to dis- 
cern dimly the physical, but will have clear 
sight of the spiritual. 

''Remember now what I tell you, as follows: 
When you come to a state of wakefulness, sup- 
press every thought concerning yourself and 
your physical body, such thoughts are revertive 
in their tendencies; remember that your con-' 
dition will be such as will enable you to see, 
for the time being, spiritual things clearly. 
When you see what you do not understand, 
ask mentally about it, turning your thoughts 
to me, to Altheo, or any one whose attention 
you may have at the time. You will quickly 
come to understand the impressional method 
of communication, and remember that distance 
is no barrier in impressional converse, success 
depending upon gaining attention. Rema r 
still in one place till you fix your mind upOi 
the place and the way you want to go; to die 
termine anything in doubt first make menta 
inquiry. Take immediate note of impression 
that come to you from others, and look steac 
fastly and with composure in the direction yo 
feel to be drawn. Have no conversational ii j 
tercourse with rebel angels, unless it be to r< 



135 

turn a simple answer in a kindly and advisory 
manner, as 'it would be better not to do so,' or 
'such a thing would be wicked,' and the like. 
They are as expert in impressional converse 
as are the obedient angels, and often annoy by 
trying to force attention; are easily offended 
and quick to resent, swarming around us at 
times in a most threatening manner; and would 
attack us fiercely were it not for the proximity 
of help from the protective sphere. 

"If you have an earnest desire to communi- 
cate impressionally with relations or special 
friends who have passed away from earth-life, 
and you think they may have reached life on 
the spiritual plane, you may make an impres- 
sional search for them, being watchful for re- 
turn impression. Sometimes what we call a 
long-distance view may be obtained at time of 
receiving return impression. It must be earn- 
estly desired and asked for mentally, exercising 
the will firmly to cause vision to appear. Re- 
member, that in spiritual life there is an earn- 
estness connected with all things; nothing is 
conceded to mere curiosity or frivolous desires 
of earthly people." 

At the close of the instructions as given 
above, Valarius took a position on my right 
side and Altheo on the left, each laying a hand 
on my head, Valarius remarking, "Xow, re- 
main perfectly composed, and exercise as little 
thought as possible," and placing his hand over 



136 

my eyes. Almost instantly I felt a drowsiness 
steal over me, which resulted in a profound 
state of unconsciousness before any thought 
was formulated about it. How long- this lasted 
I know not, but suddenly I found myself in a 
perfect state of wakefulness, with the impres- 
sion vividly in mind: "Remember your in- 
structions." This I readily perceived had been 
made by Yalarius to show me how plainly im- 
pressions could be made. Yalarius now said: 
"We w 7 ill visit the lower regions first." This 
was said mentally, but it was as distinct to me 
as if it had been spoken orally and I had heard 
with physical ears. Instantly we began to 
move down toward a surface -which appeared as 
though it might consist of solidified smoke or 
a vapor of some kind, though varying in shades 
of color; it was exceedingly porous in texture, 
so much so that we could see to great depths 
below its surface. This was the way the earth 
appeared to spiritual sight. Along its surface 
we glided for great distances, passing among 
great numbers of people and visiting many 
places the spiritual aspect of which I wished 
to see. I soon become deeply impressed with 
the deceptiveness of most things as seen in a 
physical light; the real spiritual being appear- 
ing so different when discerned spiritually. 
Many old women, with forms bent and stiffened 
by age and hardship, as indicated and defined 
by the vapory figures which I came to know 



137 

were tlieir bodies of flesh, looked out from 
their fleshly inclosures as radiant beauties who 
might grace heaven with their presence. Upon 
their spirits age seemed never to have touched. 
These I learned were of that class who sacrifice 
self for the good of others ; who being devoid 
of selfishness are rich in purity of soul. Of 
these not many were seen, but of their oppo- 
sites whole troops were encountered at every 
turn, many of them passing fair as to physique, 
but whose spirit presences were the reverse of 
prepossessing. Sometimes, even to those quite 
young and unaccustomed to hard usage, women 
were met about whose contour and exterior 
guise of flesh there appeared much of harmony 
and amiableness until a full expression of their 
spirit countenance was caught, when would be 
discerned the ground wherein every wicked 
emotion and practice could find suitable soil in 
which to grow and propagate its kind ; in some 
cases already overgrown with secret vice — 
veritable snares in human shape. This same 
descriptive matter, only with more coloring and 
deeper criminal shades, applies with exactness 
to men and boys as seen from spiritual points 
of view; boys of tender age whose every im- 
pulse tended to toward evil, and those not 
having yet reached the estate of manhood but 
with an octogenarian experience in evil prac- 
tices and criminal thought. Very few men 
were met whoc:uld compare favorably with 



138 

the good women herein referred to, whom the 
writer regards as the angels of earth. These 
brief glances at the spiritual side of things 
quickly taught me how perfectly physiognomy 
leflects the character of the spirit. I had often 
met earthly people whose air and manners were 
affable, and in whose gently modulated tones of 
voice amiableness seemed suggested, yet, from 
certain lines and set of features, supported by 
unreadable expressions from the eyes, there 
came to me an adverse impression as to the ex- 
terior indications being genuine. The thought 
would obtrude that back of these prepossess- 
ing signs a character existed essentially differ- 
ent. Now all this was explained. 

Valarius suggested that we descend to the 
first subterranean plane, and as this met entire 
approval, we began a descent, passing down 
through the porous-looking earth without any 
perceptible hindrance. Down, down we went, 
I do not know how far, possibly several miles, 
the gloom deepening all the while. Presently 
we reached what might be called a cavernous 
plane; cavernous because at longer or shorter 
distances from the undulating ground plane 
arose a sort of columns which reached up to 
the arched roofs above. These were much 
more dense in texture than the earthy material 
around them; if viewed by a physical light, 
they were probably stone formations, and were 
irregular and of all diameters, from a few bun- 



139 

dred feet to several miles. Hanging in the 
vault between these great pillars and curling 
about their crowns were great masses of what 
seemed to be vapor, in which appeared to be 
resident a grayish form of light, and as the 
vapor was in constant motion, passing from 
cavern to cavern and growing dense in one place 
and scattering and broken in another, there 
was a constant fluctuation in the degree of light 
in any one place, and at no time more than 
enough to clearly reveal the utter barrenness 
and desolation of these great areas of sub- 
mundane space. 

We skirted around many of these huge pil- 
lars, entering cavern after cavern, and passing 
near many groups of disconsolate and miser- 
able-looking spirits who seemed not to heed 
our presence at all. There was an indescrib- 
able weary, hollow-eyed, gaunt appearance 
about all of them that reminded one of de- 
scriptions given of starving people in famine- 
stricken regions. They seemed not to perse- 
cute each other — only an absolute indifference 
to everything; a deadly apathy to all around 
them. Perfectly arid — no humidity, not a drop 
of moisture in the whole region — not a thing to 
please the weary eye even for a single moment. 
Temperature was neither hot nor cold, yet op- 
pressive to the last degree bearable. 

I asked mentally of Valarius what generally 
were the faults of these spirits which resulted 



140 

in consigning them to this dismal abode. His 
answer was: "These were the high-livers in 
earth-life — they flourished like green bay trees 
planted by the side of waters — they had their 
good things and enjoyed them, and cared not 
if others starved." Only a few moans and ex- 
pressions indicating weariness of life was heard 
in this grave-like prison. 

We made many turns and traversed consider- 
able space, but a great sameness in the attitude 
of the inmates and a perfect stillness prevailed 
as far as we went. Passing near one who stood 
a little apart from others, he looked up and 
said: "Have you been living on the fat of the 
land above?" I answered, "I have had but 
little of the world's goods and have had to pay 
a high price in labor for all I have received." 
Without taking any notice of my answer, he 
remarked again, in an abstracted way, "I was 
a millionaire, look at me now," and cast his 
look downward, as we moved away. 

Yalarius motioued us to move close together, 
and said: "Let's descend." Much swifter 
than in the first instance we dropped appar- 
ently to a great depth, reaching a plane in all 
respects similar to the one we had just left ex- 
cept that instead of the pale, grayish light here 
was a blood-red gloom. Without asking I 
readily perceived that this was the abode of 
murderers and those guilty of deeds of violence. 
Before we had come to a pause on the ground 



141 

surface yells, shrieks and curses reached our 
ears. And as we were moving across a cavern, 
intending to pass around the base of one of the 
huge pillars and enter another cavern, we came 
near being caught in the midst of a maddened 
rush of a great multitude of exceedingly evil- 
looking spirits who were being chased by an- 
other immense horde but a little way in their 
rear. The fleeing ones showing abundant evi- 
dence of the murderous conflict they had been 
in by their cleft heads, mutilated faces and 
dangling limbs. By moving swiftly we barely 
crossed the track of those in retreat when those 
in pursuit rushed by with yells and horrible 
oaths and imprecations enough to cause one's 
hair to stand on end and blood to cease its flow. 
They appeared to be armed with variously de- 
vised instruments of torture, among them ter- 
riblel-ooking whips with long lashes and what 
appeared like bullets attached to the ends. On 
our way we passed by some three or more that 
had been hewed down by a terrific blow with 
an edged instrument, and one who appeared to 
have been run through by some sharp weapon 
the size of a man's arm. One we saw had been 
chopped, seemingly down through the shoul- 
der, nearly severing the arm and part of the 
shoulder from the body. My guide informed 
me that their bodies were indestructible by 
these violent means, that these wounds would 
eventually coalesce and consciousness return, 



142 

but that the sufferings were fearful ; and the 
most horrible feature was that before they re- 
covered they would likely be found by some 
one and in their helpless condition be mutilated 
to an unrecognizable mass, and it might be a 
century or two before an opportunity would 
occur in which there would be time sufficient 
for a complete restoration. There is no mercy 
here; hatred and fear are the only emotions 
which govern. In this realm assassins lurked 
in every dark nook waiting for some one to 
pounce upon. The surface of this region was 
exceedingly rough, with jagged projections 
three to four inches in height, resembling 
ledges of stone, but very sharp, extending over 
great areas; other great spaces were thickly 
studded with small projections like sharp 
spikes, with scarcely room for a foot to be 
placed between them. Gravitation has such a 
hold upon the spirits of these planes that they 
are obliged to walk on the surface much after 
the manner of people upon the earth, and here 
they wage their wars and drag their captives 
over these lacerating spikes and ledges, or tread 
tliem down upon them and leave them impaled. 
Valarius here suggested that we make an- 
other drop, and down we went. The plane we 
reached was different in several respects from 
the two above. It was enveloped in a deep 
gloom, but what light there was seemed vari- 
able and of many tints and shades, and ap- 



143 

peared to hang in groups as luminous clouds 
might, but constantly parting and reforming, 
thus casting dense, dark shadows on the sur- 
face of the plane which continually chased each 
other. Impressionally my guides informed me 
that this plane was known to angels as the 
"Yale of Snares and Deceptions ;" that here 
were consigned deceivers, those who worked to 
injure but had done so covertly, and always ap- 
proached by stealth ; who provided snares to 
entrap the unwary, and plotted to ruin under 
friendly guises. Here the confine exhibits the 
characteristics of those immured in its depths. 
The other planes were barren of everything 
pleasing to the eye, but here the surface was 
undulating with great stretches of sward which 
appeared soft and velvety at a distance, and 
even variegated with colors as the migratory 
luminous vapor passed above ; also here and 
there around the great pillars and at intervals 
between were clumps of flowers ! Ah, yes, 
flowers — hell- flowers ! At first it struck me as 
an awful prostitution that these emblems of 
purity and innocence should bloom and seek to 
perpetuate life in such a moral miasma, and 
then the thought came that even on the earth, 
invigorated by the genial rays of the sun, flow- 
ers bedecked some of the deadliest forms of 
plant-life; and here, I was informed, their 
merest touch imparted a dreadful contamina- 
tion ; that they stood as enticing yet dangerous 



144 

menaces to the wretched dwellers in this prison 
realm. But how deceptive were many of the 
pleasing appearances ! When closely examined 
what appeared as a grassy, flowery sward was 
an arid surface covered with a hard, dry, wiry 
lichen which ran its reticulate form of meshy 
and viney strands across and effectually con- 
cealed great pits, often thousands of feet in 
depth, and into many of them great numbers 
of the condemned spirits had plunged unwit- 
tingly, often while fleeing before some victim 
of their treachery while in earth-life. Angels 
in traversing these planes never touch the sur- 
face but move from a few inches to several feet 
above it at all times, so Valarius paused over 
one of these pits and parted the intertwining 
vines that I might look down into the abyss- 
mal blackness, and as I did so there seemed to 
ascend a faint and confused sound as of wails 
and moans. At another point I was shown 
where the surface was firm but the lichen-like 
growth covering it had sent up myriads of little 
erect tendrils, seemingly having no more 
strength than a sewing-thread but really as 
strong as strands of wire, thoroughly covered 
with a fine feathery foliage, and thickly among 
the little leaves, and concealed by them, grew 
numerous thorns, strong and sharp, and about 
half an inch in length ; my guide explained that 
the stems would bend outward to a descending 
foot but would turn and twine over and around 



145 

it. causing the entrapped being to fall, when an 
entanglement would ensue, and before an ex- 
trication could be effected the whole body 
would be firmly bound by these deceptive ten- 
drils, with perhaps the thorns penetrating the 
body. While this explanation was being given 
a frightened-looking spirit passed near us, 
peering first one way and then another as if in 
mortal dread of an attack and at the same time 
fearing the surface upon which he was moving. 
Suddenly a fearful shriek escaped from his 
white lips as with hands thrown out in an at- 
tempt to clutch something he disappeared in 
one of the concealed pits, the lichen resuming 
its place and appearance as though nothing had 
displaced it. Turning from the point where 
the fearful plunge had been made we met the 
implacable spirit of a woman with a spear- 
shaped instrument in hand and with a gleam 
in her countenance of hatred and fierceness of 
an intensity such as I had not before seen out- 
side the ranks of the fallen angels. The spirit 
in the pit had been fleeing from her and she 
had heard the shriek and now wanted to find 
where the plunge was made but there was 
nothing to indicate it. 

In answer to my mental query as to the cause 
of her hatred and pursuit, one of my guides 
stated that the spirit pursued had gained her 
confidence and then abused it in earth-life, and 
that she attributed her failure to reach heaven 
10 



140 

to the advantage thus taken of her confi- 
dence and affection ; that while the conclusion 
was not correct that the falsity and betrayal on 
his part had been the cause of her consignment 
to this prison, it in no way extenuated his guilt ; 
that their relative conditions had come to exist 
through the operation of the unswerving laws 
of compensations and retribution, hence she 
became an implacable Nemesis to him, and he 
doomed to flee under the influence of a quak- 
ing fear; that deceivers and wrong-doers in- 
variably fall under the power of their victims 
in some way or other; that the direst thing 
that could happen to the pursued spirit in the 
pit would be for his pursuer and former victim 
to tumble into the same pit with him; and that 
this was likely to occur sooner or later, as she 
would probably haunt the region where he dis- 
appeared for a century or two to come, waitiug 
for his emergence from his dungeon home, 
through an infilling process at the bottom of 
these pits which occurs at long intervals, and 
results from adjacent pit-sinks into which liber- 
ated captives may again plunge even before 
their eyes become accustomed to the light. 

A growth is found here resembling a hedge, 
higher than one's head, viney in appearance, 
affording in its nooks many coverts and lurking 
places, and standing out from the bushy body 
are millions of tendrils, thirty or more inches 
in length, also bearing sharp thorns concealed 



147 

in the foliage, same as heretofore described, 
It grows in clumps in many places, but is found 
circular in range, forming nearly complete in- 
closures, inviting in appearance with nothing 
to excite suspicion or cause one to approach 
with caution, yet a spirit running against it 
by accident or being thrown there by enemies 
may become entangled, drawn in and wrapped 
about hand and foot by hundreds of these 
thorn-bearing tendrils. 

Here, as in the red plane above, are a number 
of growths of a plastic nature, out of which 
by mere shaping with the hands, all kinds of 
instruments for torture can be readily devised, 
which, after severation from connecting growth 
become hard, and are as effective for their pur- 
poses, and better adapted as spiritual appli- 
ances, than earthly artisans could construct of 
iron or steel for use in the physical world. 

We made many turns, passed along devious 
ways, around pillars and hedges, and over great 
areas beset with pitfalls, saw many groups 
standing where overtaken by the migrating 
darkness, afraid to move for fear of traps and 
snares, waiting for a return of the sickly light 
afforded at times by some form of luminous 
vapor. At times wo heard the cries and saw 
many spirits wrapped up and held by the tor- 
ture-vines, and came upon some wrapped about 
and held firmly down upon the deceptive 
swards. Some had been poisoned by noxious 



148 

fumes exhaled by the infernal flowers, and also 
by an exudation that forms in drops on the sur- 
faces of the leaves and petals, which causes 
many dire afflictions, among them painful en- 
largements of affected parts to three or four 
times what would be natural, creating the ap- 
pearance of hideous monstrosities ; another 
effect of virulent contamination is a wasting 
atrophy. And for these afflictions and suf- 
erings there are no anodyne potions, no as- 
suaging applications, no lethal draughts that 
may be administered by some one in sympathy 
with the sufferers. In these submundane re- 
gious of spiritual life there are no sympathies, 
no friendships, no feelings of commiseration — 
nothing but a lusty, stalwart growth of selfish- 
ness. Spiritual nature makes an effort to heal 
and restore which closely analogizes the work- 
ing of nature in the physical realm, only in the 
spiritual the changes for better or worse be- 
come noticeable by century periods rather than 
by minor divisions of time. The efforts of 
physical nature to heal and sustain bodies of 
flesh and blood does not prevent final disinte- 
gration and death, neither can spiritual nature 
prevent the creeping eremacausis which event- 
ually works an everlasting extinction of all 
spiritual beings which at the transition receive 
no elixiviation but pass downward. 

A digressive thought occurs at this point, 
which is, that an exceedingly short space of 



149 

earth-life is allowed for the formulation and 
completion of an evil course, but an amazing 
amplitude of time is provided for the reaping 
of a consequential harvest. 

My attention being drawn to things in close 
proximity, victims were constantly seen in pur- 
suit of and striving to wreak vengeance in some 
horrible form upon those who had wronged 
or abused them in earth-life. 

From my guides I learned that all these con- 
cealed snares and dangers are migratory at 
1 onger or shorter intervals. That the awful pits 
would suddenly fill from the bottom upward, 
liberating the spirits in them and as rapidly sink 
in another place, so that a spirit just liberated, 
after spending a century or more in one pit, 
might at first turn plunge or be plunged into 
another. Those entangled and caught by tor- 
ture-vines have no means of release, but are 
held in their painful embrace, exposed to all 
who desire to afflict them, until these horrid 
forms of plant-life dwindle away in one place 
to renew their growth and frightful retaining 
power in another. Although these prison- 
planes subserve the purposes of retributive 
law, the suffering is not always limited to the 
culprit's just deserts; on the contrary, fright- 
ful excesses in torture are committed in some 
instances, for there is no correct sense of justice 
abiding in the minds of the inhabitants of 
these doleful lockups. But these wretched 



150 

beings are not wholly bereft of God's care, for 
angels are sent at times to extricate those suf- 
fering unmerited cruelty, and many of those 
so inflicting torture find themselves sunken to 
greater depths and shorn of the power to reach 
the abode of their victims. These interposi- 
tions at times tend to make hell more tolerable 
than it would otherwise be. This latter source 
of relief is analogous to the ameliorations 
which come to many wicked people in earth- 
life; their nature is not changed by such mer- 
cies, nor is their destiny in any way affected. 

Valarius now turned to me and said, "There 
is one more plane to which I will carry you, if 
you are willing, we call it the 'Kealm of Hor- 
rors.' " I told him if the visit was safe I 
wanted to go, and in reply he said there was no 
danger. Then we moved for a while in a line 
partly describing a circle, and each of my 
guides appeared intent on detecting some sound 
of which they had knowledge bat did not ex- 
plain it to me. Presently we were drawn close 
together and began to descend, but very slowly, 
and during the descent Valarius explained that 
to this low plane were consigned all those 
guilty of great cruelties; torturers who had 
used devices to prolong life and yet inflict aw- 
ful excruciation; those who destroyed their 
victims by slow degrees and inhuman means. 
"As a rule," Valarius went on to say, "victims 
who fail of appointment to spiritual life, be- 



151 

come the instruments of retributive law for 
punishing those who wronged or abused them, 
and the guilty ones conceive a tormenting fear 
of their victims as soon as they are clear of 
their physical bodies, but it often happens that 
those who were the victims from their miseries 
are translated to heavenly rest, then, in that 
event, the fear weighing upon them produces 
a scotoma of vision, and transcripts of their 
victims appear as phantoms, and this usually 
culminates in abnormal psychological condi- 
tions in which these phantasmal or appari- 
tional beings scourge the culprits, and subject 
them to all manner of excruciating pains, usu- 
ally, however, the same identically as they had 
previously inflicted in the time of their earth- 
life, and the sufferings are as real to them as 
if their victims were present and inflicting the 
same. In other cases greater aberrations occur 
paroxysmally, during which the wretched be- 
ings believe themselves pursued by monstrous- 
looking mordacious beasts, and at times over- 
taken, bitten, mangled and partly eaten alive; 
the hideous shapes seeming to have facial or 
other resemblances to one or more of their 
victims." Before Valarius ceased speaking I 
became aware that we were near the dreadful 
Realm of Horrors by the awful screams and 
howls which by reverberations came from be- 
low. Suddenly we passed through an arched 
roof of a dark cavern in which only enough 



152 

light pervaded its space to make objects indis- 
tinctly visible. My guides, holding me between 
them, dropped to within about fifty feet of 
what appeared to be a dark and uneven surface, 
covered with irregular and jagged fragments 
deposited by eruptions and explosions. A per- 
fect babel of sounds pervaded, of every intona- 
tion from the frantic screams of tortured spir- 
its to the low gutteral moans of sentient beings 
mangled beyond recognition ; the air riven at 
intervals by terrific explosions. Here were 
masters of slaves receiving the lash without 
mercy, whose yells equaled and probably trans- 
cended any ever uttered by their slaves while 
receiving stripes given with "raw-hides ;" mil- 
lionaire magnates were seen, stark naked and 
being dragged over the surface fragments by 
thongs around their necks and in the hands of 
great crowds of poor laborers whom they had 
defrauded out of their rights and the proceeds 
of whose labor they had appropriated to their 
own luxurious living. Torturers were being 
tortured, gamblers were in the hands of those 
whom they had fleeced. The licentious profli- 
gate meets his victims here, not as weeping 
and heart-broken, but as implacable furies, 
with lash, dagger and stiletto in hand, and 
other unmentionable devices for torture. The 
righteous law of retribution provides for all 
these wretches a craven, paralyzing fear which 
cuts off all defense, leaving no means accessi- 



153 

ble but flight, and then to be chased, head- 
lugged, laid in wait for, attacked in every way 
and by all kinds of means, with never a mo- 
ment of rest or safety. Those who had de- 
stroyed young and helpless children seemed to 
be in the worst plight of any class of spirits in 
this realm of horrors. They were ever on the 
move with the alternating and incessant cry for 
water and then for death. Every one they met 
gave them a blow or a thrust with some sharp 
instrument, or threw at them some jagged frag- 
ment picked up from the surface ; all of which 
they heeded not ; if knocked down, they clam- 
bered up and went on, continually moving their 
hands as if trying to clear the way — trying to 
brush something aside that was constantly be- 
fore their eyes. My guide said phantoms of 
destroyed children were before them. We 
passed along many labyrinthian passageways 
and entered cavern after cavern, meeting the 
pursued and the pursuers, hearing the same 
awful wails and moans, until I could stand it 
no longer and asked to be taken away, a request 
which my guides seemed not reluctant to grant 
at once, and in a few seconds — so quick I could 
tell nothing about it — we were above the earth's 
surface. 

Here Valarius and Altheo met a group of 
comrades who were in the general protective 
service, and paused to hold converse, which they 
conducted in the pasilaly which I could not 



154 

understand. Here Altheo, who was a guardian, 
became apprised that his ward needed his at- 
tention and left the group instantly. Soon the 
others passed on, and Valarius remarked, "I 
will have to get some one else to go with us, 
Altheo may not return, but will probably have 
to conduct his ward to the spiritual sphere." 
At this instant he hailed some one beyond my 
range of vision and received reply. He then 
pointed in the direction and asked me if I could 
see any one; I looked and could barely discern 
a mere moving speck so indistinct was the fig- 
ure, but even while I looked the figure gained 
rapidly in distinctness, and in a moment or so 
Mahofta stood by us. This I was glad of. We 
now started for the spirit sphere. This flight 
was so swift that I barely got my thoughts col- 
lected so as to observe things we were passing 
when a sharp swerve was made and we came to 
a pause, with a panoramic scene around us dis- 
playing a grandeur and beauty far surpassing 
any conception my mind had been able to reach 
up to this time. Great stretches of green sur- 
face, undulating in places, everywhere present- 
ing a changeable viridescence, but soft and 
smooth as velvet, lay out before us in every di- 
rection, traversed by many glistening paths 
with graceful winds and curves; flowers every- 
where disposed, according to lines of beauty, 
from small spangles rich in color, and large 
clumps of surpassing brilliancy, to majestic 



155 

flowering trees transcending anything ever con- 
ceived by an earthly florist. We glided along, 
turning hither and thither as pleased our fancy 
at the moment, irrespective of the bright, 
smooth paths, our feet sometimes but an inch 
or two above the surface which seemed to me 
too pretty to tread on, but heavenly spirits 
never walk as do earthly people. Mind is su- 
perior to heavenly matter, and the character- 
istic levitation of spiritual bodies and the 
buoyancy of the spiritual air are such that the 
will or desire moves the spirit whitherso- 
ever it pleases — onward, upward or downward. 
Passing groups of beautiful, happy spirits at 
almost every turn, many of whom extended 
greetings to Yalarius and Mahofta, we came to 
the margin of a majestic river, where, along 
the flower-bespangled and verdure-covered 
slopes were erected hundreds of beautifully 
and curiously constructed tents, or, more prop- 
erly speaking, pavilions ; a drapery of many 
pleasing shades seemed fastened at the top, or 
pinnacle, and hung about in graceful folds, 
forming the inclosure ; in texture it resembled 
in some degree the finest Valenciennes lace. 
These were the abiding-places at times of such 
spirits as brought with them from earth an in- 
nate love for a particular place as home, but 
this trait, which migrates from earth to heaven, 
carries with it not an iota of selfishness — all 
heaven is home, and these little domiciliary re- 



156 

treats, although constructed by one or a little 
like-minded group, carry a general welcome to 
all whose fancy calls them thither. 

The surface of the river looked J ike a finely 
polished mirror except that occasionally a 
wavelet could be seen approaching the flowery 
margin, and breaking into tiny ripples as it 
neared, would roll up to the flowers like thou- 
sands of little diamonds. Beyond this "Crys- 
tal Sea" forests appeared gorgeous in floral 
loveliness, making the eye thankful for en- 
chanting vistas penetrating their depths. Hun- 
dreds of beautiful spirits crossed and recrossed 
and glided about on the surface of the silvery 
water. 

We did not cross over, but after following 
the river's winding for some distance, Valarius 
pointed out a most beautiful sight and turned 
in that direction, it was a large grove of flow- 
ery trees standing in a level viridescent plain, 
the height of some of them perhaps being two 
hundred feet, resembling a gigantic bouquet — 
flowers of every hue and color, many having a 
measurement of two to three feet across the 
full blown corolla or cluster of petals bound by 
calyx, interspersed among these enormous in- 
florescent growths were great catkin-shaped 
masses of bloom, together with umbels and 
corymbs proportioned in size to their surround- 
ing floral companions. But the transcendent 
feature, never to fade from memory in after 



157 

time, was supplied by hundreds of happy spir- 
its surrounding this flower-forest. Around, 
above, below, basking in its bowers, and sitting 
or reclining upon the outward turned petals 
spirits were to be seen, resembling in every 
way save in shape some species of strangely 
beautiful birds. There was a striking contrast 
between these prime aids to heavenly efful- 
gence, of every hue and shade from deepest 
scarlets and crimsons to the delicate shades of 
pink and lilac, and the leaf-foliage green of the 
trees and the snowiness of spirit robes and the 
dazzling, sparkling whiteness of spirit faces 
and hands, that was most interesting to note — 
the whole scene being iridescent with divine 
beauty, and far beyond human skill, with an 
earthly language, to describe. 

Moving up to and among the trees of the 
grove a new experience in the music of spirit 
voices came to me from the bowery above. The 
pasilaly is a vast system of sweet sounds, ex- 
pressive of every thought and emotion within 
the range and grasp of the spirit mind, and in 
the happy and engaging converse of the spirits 
above could be heard tremando effects in sound 
constantly dying away into the sweetest of 
tremolos. 

Beyond this grove and in trend away from 
the river we came upon an area where was a 
plenteous growth curious enough in appear- 
ance. It was stems standing erect and about 



158 

five to six feet in height, with a cone-shaped 
mass of an exceedingly white fleecy-looking 
texture, capped by a curious little tuft of green 
and red. Yalarius explained that these were 
robes for spirit use, to be had for the unwind- 
ing and detaching from the stem. 

Seeing I did not readily understand how this 
could be, Mahofta went on to say, "Everything 
on the spiritual sphere is alive, there is no de- 
cay or waste ; our robes are alive, our slippers 
are alive, and were made of a leaf like you see 
growing on that bush there; the material is 
plastic, and will coalesce and continue to live 
and grow as folded or placed. Everything in 
plant-life grows in cycles. This little stem 
[breaking a little twig from a near-standing 
flower stalk and placing it erect in the plastic 
surface] will grow to its full size by nature, 
flower for a season, longer or shorter according 
to its inherent limitations, then will come its 
decline, not decay ; the air that sustains its 
life during its period of growth and maturity 
will gather it up through a period equal to its 
time of growth, and bestow the material else- 
where. It will bear no seed and can not propa- 
gate its kind ; no life originates here, and the 
original germs, which come by transplantation, 
never dies. All you see here, with very few 
exceptions, came originally from the earth or 
some other planet of this system, by transplan- 
tation, but mostly from the earth. In trans- 



159 

planting life from the earth, either human or 
plant, no part or quality not essential in spirit- 
ual life is carried up. There is no sex distinc- 
tion maintained in spirit bodies ; there is no 
blood and the arterial and veinal structure of 
the physical bodv is not preserved in the spirit 
form; there are no heart-beats or pulsations in 
the spiritual system; the alimentary and intes- 
tinal essentials to physical life are dropped at 
death. We wear robes because uniformity in 
appearance and beauty of outline is best at- 
tained by doing so, and not because of sugges- 
tive or indecent bodies or to protect from in- 
clemency of temperature. Spiritual beings 
who were females in earth-life here exhibit less 
of the features which are distinctively femi- 
nine, and males less of the masculine; that is 
the reason that all spirits look so much alike." 
At this point in Mahofta's explanation a 
beautiful spirit interrupted by dropping swiftly 
down from a group which had been circling 
about at a considerable height above the sur- 
face, and taking hold of his hands the two be- 
gan an animated conversation concerning some 
matter in which Yalarius joined, but what it 
was I could not understand, but as I immedi- 
ately recognized in her the spirit I had seen be- 
ing carried up in such a weak condition, sup- 
posed their talk related to that incident. She 
was soon hailed to join a company of many 
hundred who were going to some distant point, 



160 

and after congratulations on her rapid gain of 
strength she left. 

As we were left to ourselves again we moved 
toward what appeared to be a ridge, lying 
higher than the surface over which we had 
passed, and on the way came by and under sev- 
eral trees bearing a generous supply of a lu- 
cious-looking kind of fruit, and in one or two 
instances I observed spirits eating it, and re- 
marked to Mahofta that from what he had said 
of the anatomy of spirit bodies I had come to 
the conclusion that spirits ate nothing at all. 
To which he made answer, "Your conclusion 
was not far wrong, for celestial beings eat but 
little and only at long intervals ; and the fruit 
you have noticed being eaten is all nutriment 
in a digested state, there is no part of it that 
goes to waste, and it requires not to undergo 
the changes that earthly fruit would if taken 
into the stomach of a physical body. A spir- 
it's stomach is merely a receptacle, and creates 
no sense of hunger ; a spirit in eating does so 
to please a momentary fancy, and the quantity 
taken is inconsiderable. The spiritual air fur- 
nishes every essential of life to everything liv- 
ing in heaven. 

By this time we had reached the ascent of 
the ridge and were joined by a host of heavenly 
beings all moving in the same direction; some 
near the surface as we were but many moved 
at a much higher elevation. New and beauti- 



161 

ful plant-growths and different kinds of gor- 
geous flowers were encountered at almost every 
turn, and all the while the air was heavily laden 
with the fragrance exhaled by the exhuberant 
and all-abounding masses of bloom waving in 
the trees all about us. When at the crest of 
the ridge the luminosity of the atmosphere 
waned perceptibly for a moment or so, a slight 
flurry among the tree leaves and pendent wav- 
ing mosses and catkins was noted, a low, mus- 
ical sigh from the tree boughs came to the ear, 
and then to my utter astonishment came a 
shower of rain. It had not occurred to me that 
such a phenomenon was essential or even pos- 
sible. The rainfall was m^st peculiar, in that 
the descent of water was in form like tiny crys- 
tal beads, and floated gently down like the very 
finest of snow, but each particle of the descend- 
ing fluid was a perfect globule. There being 
no sun, and light being resident in the celestial 
air, innumerable refractions and reflections 
momentarily occurred among these falling 
globules, giving all the airy space the appear- 
ance of being filled with scintillations or party- 
colored sparks. These little raindrops settled 
upon everything, retaining their spherical form 
and giving the velvety surface a bright beady 
look, suggesting the thought of the verdure 
being a species of drosera. There was no per- 
ceptible dampness created by the shower ; if 
one of the tiny globules was slightly pressed, 
ll 



162 

as by the finger upon the hand, its sphericity- 
disappeared leaving a minute damp speck which 
also evaporated as you looked at it. Having 
settled thickly upon a robe, giving it somewhat 
the appearance of having been studded with 
diamonds, because of the reflections of light, 
if it was shaken, even gently, the little drops 
fell away as would sand from a dry surface. 
Although the surface had the appearance of 
variegated glass interminably blended while 
the shower lasted, yet all reminders were ab- 
sent in a few moments after it was over. To 
my understanding the shower came in the in- 
terest of plant-life ; where water was needed 
the little globules were absorbed at once and 
the remainder as quickly taken up by the air. 

From the point where we had paused a mo- 
ment or two when the shower came on, an easy 
descent appeared, then a vast level plain, and 
beyond this and appearing to inclose it, lay 
higher elevations; and here were gathered, and 
coming from all directions, millions of heavenly 
beings intent upon engaging in the worship of 
the Most High and his Adorable Son. The air, 
always full of sweet sounds because of the 
long distances sound-waves travel, now seemed 
doubly tuneful and surcharged with an inten- 
sity of light, redolent with the fragrance of 
celestial flowers, and vocal with adorational 
intonations, in sweetness and harmony impos- 
sible of description to any language save the 






m 

pasilaly of heaven. We joined the great as- 
sembly on the plain, and look where we might 
others were coming. There were no set cere- 
monies, no orations addressed to the assembly, 
no place or arrangement as an altar, no vest- 
ments, no consecrated or set-apart individuals 
to officiate, no implorations or set petitions. It 
was a worship of the kind to which Christ al- 
luded when he mentioned worshiping "in 
spirit and in truth. 1 ' My attendants called it 
"soul worship." All addressed themselves to 
the Host High, with frequent reference to his 
Adorable Son, using expressions of praise and 
adoration of which the language of heaven is 
so prolific. The air became vibrant with alle- 
luias; hands were clasped while swaying back 
and forth or moving in rhythmic motion to the 
volumes of harmony arising from praises sung 
iu tune, consonant with joyous expressions ar- 
ticulated or shouted in many sweet and mellif- 
luous sounds, which convey a sense of adora- 
tion to the spirit ear. Mighty tremandos 
could be heard resulting from the echoes and 
clashes of sound-waves in disposing of the vol- 
umes of harmony arising from the songs? 
shouts, and melliloquent converse of this vast 
assembly of heaven-entranced spirits, whose 
very motions were in perfect accord with the 
harmony-throbs which timed the succession of 
tremolos that hovered over the millions in the 
assembly as they basked in an abounding love. 



164 

A diminution in the volume of harmony now 
became perceptible, and many could be seen 
moving away. Mahofta and Valarius, in their 
ecstasy, had gradually penetrated to near the 
center of the valley, leaving me for the while 
alone on the outer margin of the assembly, and, 
while so left, the thought occurred to make an 
impressional search for a sister who had died 
long years before at the age of about four years. 
This I did, and soon received an impressional 
reply, "Brother, I am here. Come and tell me 
about mother." Our weakness or want of ex- 
perimental knowledge here interrupted, and I 
then sought to obtain a long-distance view. 
This was fairly successful, but I had in mem- 
ory the features of a young child, and was not 
prepared to see the face of a woman at matur- 
ity with little resemblance to my mind-picture. 

My attendants now returned in a perfect glow 
of fervor and rapturous fullness, and every few 
moments would commence clapping their hands 
and singing parts of some impassioned songs or 
chants. 

As quick as a little calmness had fallen upon 
my attendants, I inquired if this valley was 
known by any name, and was answered that it 
was the Yale of Echoes; that there were situ- 
ated around the sphere numerous places se- 
lected for worship — some on hill-tops, others in 
valleys and beside rivers and lakes, but that 
this was a general favorite. 



165 

Mahofta then related that on several occa- 
sions at the time of worship in this vale a pe- 
culiar white cloud had been seen to form high 
above the assemblage, of such intensity of 
brightness that eyes could not endure to look 
at it at first, and then gradually descend into 
their midst, and Christ would then step forth 
and spread his hands in blessing upon the as- 
sembled hosts, but immediately added that not 
alone in this way did celestial beings obtain an 
interview with Christ, but that he was often 
met strolling along river sides, or found sitting 
in groves and caressing the flowers. On such 
occasions he is not readily distinguishable from 
the angels of the higher planes, who are met 
often in the same way, and never with osten- 
tation or insignia of rank. Christ alone will 
permit being addressed in terms denoting di- 
vinity or refer ing to his divine origin. Angels 
from the highest orders down require their 
plain single name to be used in addressing or 
in converse with them. The pasilaly of heaven 
has no terms expressive of rank or title save 
divine appellations. The pasilaly as used by 
the fallen rebels has been copiously provided 
with such terms. 

I now observed that a very great number of 
the assembled spirits moved almost perpendic- 
ularly upward, and remarked the same to my 
attendants, when Mahof ta said, "Why this is we 
will show you," and immediately we began to 



1G6 

ascend. At a height of two miles or more we 
arrived at the abiding-places of those who 
make choice to spend much of their time at 
this elevation, apparently on account of the 
beautiful bird's-eye views to be had of great 
areas of the spiritual sphere. From this point 
winding rivers, lakes, verdant plains, and moun- 
tains majestic in appearance, assemblies of 
spirits, groups of tents and pavilions, and nu- 
merous other incrassations were to be seen, 
some lower and others loftier than the one on 
which we stood, all of them populous with 
happy spirits, and bearing innumerable pa- 
vilions and canopies of semi-floral design, airy 
and filmy — real curios in point of beauty and 
natural adaption, and conjointly challenging 
admiration were many elegant viney and flow- 
ery accessories disposed about at suitable in- 
tervals. One thing that attracted my attention 
especially here, as everywhere in the spiritual 
sphere, was the total absence of everything 
artificial and mechanical — everything growing 
spontaneously in a form and shape adapted to 
the purpose for which devised by the divine 
mind, which is cognizant of every need in the 
universe. It also occurred to me how com- 
pletely out of a job are the poor " hewers of 
wood and drawers of water" that are here 
now and yet to arrive. No job and no neces- 
sity for looking up one. No wood to saw! and 
no one to dispossess or evict for not coming 



1(37 

forward with the "rent," Truly the "weary 
and heavy laden" have a land of rest here. 
For the real estate dealer and rent- taker is not 
here. Its a barren field for such a business. 
He is too heavy, too ponderous, old earth's 
gravity hooks will insure this peaceful, happy 
land against his blasting precence. 

Seeing I was so enchanted with the views 
and in the contemplation of the beauties and 
glories of spirit-life as seen and realized here, 
Mahofta reminded me that this was only the 
earth's spiritual sphere, and that all these 
hosts of happy spirits were consigned to this 
abode because of the defectiveness of their 
work in earth-life — not that they were selfish 
lovers of' the world, for such can never reach 
this plane, their place being below, but because, 
although earnest and devoted, they failed in 
some measure to live up to their opportunities 
for meritorious work; — that the glories of the 
second and third heavens, to say nothing of the 
blissful regions beyond these which can not be 
described, transcended what I saw here in the 
ratio that the bright sun exceeded in illuminat- 
ing power that of the twinkling star. 

I then inquired about night and was told 
there was no night in the sense of a gathering 
gloom or darkness ; that the air of the spirit 
sphere, being spiritual in its nature, intercepted 
the spiritual rays emanating from the sun, and, 
through the powers of the law of affinity, 



168 

held them in store, so that light was resident 
in the atmosphere. That in the spirit sphere 
there was a slight diminution of light during 
the night of the physical earth, but this feature 
extended not to the higher planes. During 
the period of the most intense light spirits col- 
lect together in their favorite places to worship, 
as I had witnessed, and about the middle of the 
period of diminished light they worship wher- 
ever they may be, or in small groups, without 
assembling in large bodies. 

It now occurred to me that before being re- 
turned to a normal state I wanted to more 
closely view the abodes and manners of life of 
the rebel angels, and also to have explanation 
concerning the prevalent belief in the world 
that devils are always the instruments in pun- 
ishing the wicked, and so mentioned to my at- 
tendants, to which they assented, and Mahofta 
began, as follows: "This erroneous but very 
prevalent belief took its rise in ages past from 
a misconception of God's method of ruling 
' and governing in the realm of his created 
things. It was not understood how his will and 
purposes could be carried out and effected by 
the unseen and silent forces of law. To these 
early minds there must of necessity be an or- 
ganized form of life to achieve anything ; and 
as the thought of God descending to the busi- 
ness of roasting sinners was not exactly agree- 
able, the horrible pastime was delegated to 



169 

devils. Now, as to the "burning" idea always 
associated with the belief in devils as execu- 
tioners, I will tell you that there is in the spir- 
itual realm a cold so intense that a spirit body 
subjected to it would assume the form of a 
lump of white dust ; and a heat so fierce as to 
expand the same body to a gaseous fluid so 
greatly rarified as to be imperceptible to any 
spiritual sense, but these great elemental stores 
of opposing forms of energy are for grander 
and far more important purposes in divine 
economy than the torment of frail, delinquent 
human beings. Yet many culprits suffer burn- 
ing to an extinction, but because they have 
in their earth-lifetime inflicted burning, and 
it is often their burnt victims that become the 
instruments of retributive law, and when these 
are not available because of having been con- 
veyed to the land of rest, then the fire ignites 
within their own being, or the sensation of fire 
at least, and they come to extinction crying for 
water. The fallen or rebel angels are danger- 
ous to human beings while clothed with flesh 
and their spiritual sight veiled, and because of 
this disadvantage on the part of human beings 
their invisible spirit foes are restrained from 
the use of force, they can onty prompt to evil, 
and if continually resisted after a time they 
are denied this privilege. The greatest danger, 
however, from the rebel angel source is from 



170 

human beings who willingly become their in- 
struments, and these latter we are not allowed, 
except in rare instances, to restrain by force. 
Human beings have never wronged, injured or 
abused these rebels, and when disembodied 
and on an equal footing with them as antag- 
onists, have no fear of them, and they would 
be assailed the instant they interfered or un- 
dertook to inflict punishment. And retributive 
law, bearing impartially upon all disobedient 
finite beings, gives them a feer of human 
spirits whom they have injured ; therefore the 
conclusion is much more than possible that in 
future time, when by downward trend these 
fallen ones become domiciled in some low- 
lying subterranean plane, that human spirits 
may be the instruments of divine retribution 
in ridding the universe of their disturbing 
presence. By a law in spiritual life no one has 
a fear of another whom they have not injured. 
In spirit-prison life it happens at times that 
one may be waging an attack upon another 
with the rage and ferociousness of a beast, 
when, if he catches sight of the frail spirit of 
a woman whom he has wronged or ruined, or 
other victim of his cruelty, will cease to strug- 
gle, and with blanched face, in abject fear, be- 
take himself to flight. " 

As Mahofta ceased speaking I took one more 
look at my beautiful environment, the bevies 



171 

of radiant spirits, near views and distant vis- 
tas, and then we began a rather swift passage 
toward the earth, too swift for me to observe 
anything until we came to a pause about five 
miles above the surface, and then both Ma- 
hofta and Valarius began a survey of the re- 
gion around about to see where the greatest 
body of the rebels were located, Yalarius re- 
marking that they made frequent changes of 
their places of abode. From general protec- 
tive comrades whom he hailed at long range, 
Mahofta got bearings, and soon we were in 
their vicinity. The first thing I noticed was a 
long dark line resembling somewhat an irregu- 
lar forest growth, but on nearer approach it 
proved to be only a smoke or some sort of va- 
por, hanging over an incrassation many miles 
in length and about two hundred feet wide, 
which constituted a segment of a great cordon 
reaching around the earth. On this strata of 
thickened or incrassated spiritual air, in a line 
of apparent straightness, were many tents and 
canopied pavilions, some of them of unique 
and curious designs. In and about these 
booths and mostly part-inclosures could be 
seen, sitting or reclining, or strolling about 
with an aimless air, great numbers of these 
spirit malcontents. About midway and above 
this uppermost tier sat the much more preten- 
tious mansion of one of Zamiel's divisional 



172 

officers, now in command of this division of 
the rebel forces. I learned that a council sat 
and deliberated here almost continually, pre- 
sided over by the divisional commandant. 
Ever and anon from these headquarters would 
dart swift messengers with mandates concern- 
ing various matters, achievements and ultimate 
ends to be consummated as essential to the 
purposes and welfare of the rebel body. A 
short conference would be had at different 
points along the line of the first tier, and from 
this dissemination was made to the tiers be- 
low of which there were several. Departures 
to execute these mandates were constantly no- 
ticed ; sometimes the departing emissaries 
would go provided with scourges and other in- 
struments of torture, these were to be used on 
such of their number as had been reported or 
found to be negligent in execution or delin- 
quent as to orders. 

We passed along near the edge of the incras- 
sation where were many rebels standing or 
lounging. Some of them made remarks osten- 
sibly to be heard by us, and not complimentary 
at all ; others spoke directly to my attendants 
and received reply in a few instances, but were 
given no attention in most cases. Some of 
them had an air and appearance about them 
suggesting the thought that they w 7 ere not as 
bad as represented, and disposing one to be 



173 

friendly with them until they met a straight 
look from their eyes, when a cold, creepy sen- 
sation stealing over them they invariably turn 
away and end the interview. 

I could readily perceive that the sex distinc- 
tion, which is entirely obliterated in celestial 
beings, was quite apparent in the rebel class. 
Those who were males in physical life had a 
more or less show of beard, while the former 
females had longer hair and more pride in its 
appearance. I remarked this to Mahofta, and 
he explained that in their decimate course they 
w r ere nearing conditions appertaining to physi- 
cal life and a sort of recrudescence was taking 
place in their nature. 

Here an interruption came to what Mahofta 
was probably going on to say, by one who had 
evidently been a female in physical life, ask- 
ing me to come and see her pet flowers which 
she said grew just beyond her tent, this I de- 
clined, and she flirted away, as if offended, re- 
marking as she w T ent, "Oh, I have seen you be- 
fore, and will meet you again in your dreams.' ' 
Mahofta remarked that she belonged to a class 
of spirits known as Succubae, who gave their 
attention mostly to men in physical life, 
prompting to evil, and producing whenever 
they can exciting dreams, and that there was 
an opposite class among them who gave sim- 
ilar attention to women. 



174 

Upon these incrassations were some forms of 
floral and other forms of plant-life — spiritual 
counterparts of things found growing on the 
earth. Several instruments for torture were 
seen lying about, dropped apparently after 
their last use. 

I was told that in addition to this cordon 
of divisional posts which reaches around the 
earth, great divisions were qaartered near, 
and often immediately above, all the large 
cities. Mahofta said that the general estimate 
was that a hundred million were in rebellion. 

I inquired of Mahofta if he ever held con- 
versation beyond a few passing words with the 
rebels, to which he answered, "Not often. A 
few times divisional officers have approached 
me and shown a disposition to discuss certain 
matters embraced in thsir general contention, 
and while I have given them attention at such 
times, and always my opinion after hearing 
their views, I have never believed them hon- 
est in what they set out as their convictions. " 
" To what contention do you refer ?" 1 asked. 
"Oh," he replied, " they claim that laws, gen- 
erally unknown, but framed by the Almighty, 
exist, which make possible, with certain elim- 
inations from each, the merging of physical and 
spiritual natures into one, still preserving the 
procreative power now confined to physical 
life. That their class is not wholly bad, but 



175 

that they can and are being improved. That 
the charge that they act from malicious im- 
pulses is not true ; that they are creatures of 
passions and habits, and that many things they 
prompt human beings to engage in is done be- 
cause they themselves love the incident excite- 
ment, as do many earthly people, and not ma- 
liciously to ruin them ; that many of the things 
forbidden are harmless in themselves and of 
natural right. They claim the right to use, as 
far as they can learn how, any and all of the 
laws they find the Almighty to have estab- 
lished, taking the existence of a law as the 
guarantee of a right to use. That when they 
find a law governing in matter by which a 
spirit body can be materialized or clothed with 
physical matter for a time, it assures them 
that there is law existent and discoverable by 
which such materialization can be made per- 
manent. That they have a right to develop 
and proceed along any line in the pursuance 
of which they find operative law. That they 
are striving for and are gradually working out 
a great reformation in their condition, and they 
can not see that the Almighty has interposed 
any force against them ; he is leaving them, as 
he does earthly people, to achieve any good 
they can for themselves under natural laws, 
spiritual or physical ; that they have had to 
confront great obstacles, but not more than 



176 

they expected ; that all progress along new and 
untried ways have been slow and difficult. 
These and many other claims they put for- 
ward." 

I was now satisfied with what I had seen and 
heard and so remarked, when a descent was 
made to the very spot where spiritual sight 
first came to me. As we paused I thought to 
ask Mahofta concerning the horrors to which 
he alluded in speaking of David capturing the 
Ammonite cities, and he replied, "I can not 
give you the horrible details of the slaughter 
of the inhabitants of Kabbah, but there is 
Molsti, now in the mission service, who was 
present at the time, from whom I will get the 
details. We must now return you to a normal 
state, and at any time when your mind is pas- 
sive make a mental search for me, and then I 
will give you the description you want; and 
you need not confine your inquiries to that 
event alone.' ' 

At the close of this saying, Mahofta and Yal- 
arius each placed their hands on my shoulders 
and head, Mahofta saying, "Now, hold your 
thoughts." A momentary oblivion followed, 
then a sound as of a curtain quickly drawn and 
sight of a hand disappearing through an aper- 
ture, and I was myself again. 



